Asmira
by AttentionDeficitAuthors
Summary: Asmira. A Region plagued by darkness and greed. Can three overcome fate and a land itself to quell the evil that threatens their freedom? Join Aeric White, Carma Grey and Aaron Black as they take part in a revolution to free their home.
1. Chapter 1: Carma

**A/N: Hiya! Thank you for finding and reading our story! I hope that you'll stick around, because we have a LOT planned for it!**

 **Anyway, my name is Crisis! If you want to know a little bit about me, then check out my bio on the accounts profile page. But, you're here for the story, and there's a few things I need to touch base on about it before you begin reading.**

 **One, this story isn't written by one person. It's actually written by three, me (Crisis), Altus, and Nexus! You'll be seeing a chapter from each of us in the order of the names that I listed, meaning every fourth chapter will be mine etc. It's almost three different stories in one! But, it really is one larger story told from the perspective of three different characters (who you will be introduced to in the first three chapters) in the same world, which is the pokemon world. But, it's in an entirely new region, one completely fan made: Asmira!**

 **Two, as stated, this story is written by three different authors. As such, the writing style will be a little bit different each chapter. Please don't be dissuaded! We're all really good (XD)! But, the order in which the chapters appear will always be the same: Me, Altus, and Nexus. We will also be uploading all of our chapters at the same time consistently, meaning every update you'll actually get three chapters. So, if you find that you favor one writing style over the other, just skip (but you'll be missing out on a lot ;))!**

 **Three, this chapter is rated M for a reason. There will be swearing, blood and gore, and maybe some in depth romance, depending on the author. We would prefer people who read to be above the age of 18 just to be safe. (But, we don't own or control you, so read at your own discretion.)**

 **And as I don't want to drone on and on about nonsense and stuff that you'll be figuring out as you read anyway, I'm going to end this note here! I hope you all enjoy our story and feel free to tell us your thoughts! Now then, welcome to the world of Pokemon, and welcome to the region of Asmira! (Are you a boy or a girl? XD)**

 **Disclaimer: Crisis, Altus, and Nexus do NOT own Pokemon or any of its affiliates. We do, however, own this story, region, and our characters as well.**

* * *

" _Stay in your room sweetheart!" her dad yelled at her, with tears in his eyes. The young girl paused with her foot still outside of her door. She'd heard her father, who was normally a very polite man, curse and cry, sounding like he was filled with a terrible rage and sadness. She'd never heard him sound so angry or sad._

" _Why? What's happened?" she asked worriedly, refusing to obey him until she figured out what was wrong._

 _He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'll tell you in the morning, you need to go back to sleep."_

 _She frowned, and nodded slowly. She eased back into her room slowly, shutting the door behind her carefully. Then she crawled into her bed and opened up her laptop, which was connected to her house's security cameras. Clicking on the screen showing the living room, she sat back and watched._

 _On the tv, clear as if she were in the room watching it, she saw a city with a huge tower of smoke billowing out from the ruins of a building._

 **[Carma]**

"Citizens of Asmira, we are here today to mourn the terrible events that took place in Temple Pavvla five years ago. We give our condolences to those that lost their loved ones during that horrifying, and completely unwarranted, terroristic attack, and offer our support to those in need. Know that the Core will, and always will, stand by and support you."

Carma huffed at the words on the television. _Like the Core ever actually cared about Asmira's citizens._ She scowled at the screen angrily. _They can use their propaganda all they like, I know the truth._

She still remembered that day very clearly. If the media was to be believed, it was the worst terroristic attack in the history of Asmira, which it truly was. But, the media only ever put out a Core sanctioned message. They blamed it on radical opposers of Core rule and law. Rebels. Carma, however, was well aware of what actually happened.

 _How can people believe their lies,_ she wondered in disbelief. _It's so obvious! But, people will believe what people want to believe. If the media says that radical rebels bombed it, why shouldn't they have?_

She knew she was being unfair. Not everyone had the benefits and knowledge that came with her upbringing, what with her father being who he was and all. Not only was he a gym leader, some say the most challenging gym in the circuit, he was also the founder of the modern-day rebellion, which called themselves Asmira's Guardians.

 _I suppose I'm lucky to have what I have. My dad's a great man._

Almost on que, she heard a familiar voice begin to speak behind her.

"Cary, why do you watch this if it only puts you in a bad mood? Don't torture yourself honey. There's nothing you can do," her father, Dan Grey, said soothingly.

She turned her head over her shoulder to glare at him across the couch she was lounging on. "Not for my lack of trying. How can people believe this! It's bullshit!" she yelled at him. He just smiled sadly at her.

Dan Grey was a tall, middle aged man with short brown, greying hair, a strong jawline, and deep blue eyes. Sometimes she wished her own eyes were that color, so she wasn't reminded of what she had lost five years ago every time she looked in a mirror. He was wearing his usual gym leader attire, that being a smart and rather pricey looking grey tux, as tribute to his name and the town his ancestors had founded hundreds of years ago. Even before the Core took over. Carma knew that many women found her father attractive, and a large number of them had even tried to gain his affection. But, Carma knew that he'd never marry again. He had loved her mother too much.

"There's no need to take it out on me, I'm not the one you're angry at," he smiled calmly. He stepped closer to her, and rested his hand on her shoulder, causing her to relax. "But, I'm glad to see that you take more after your mother than me. You remind me of her more and more every day."

Immediately her anger disappeared, only to be replaced with grief as she lowered her gaze. She sighed sadly, as her dad reached next to her for the remote and turned off the t.v. "Sometimes I wish that I wasn't like her so much," she mumbled.

He stroked her shoulder comfortingly. "I understand honey. But, you should at least be thankful for something," he told her. She raised her gaze to stare at him quizzically.

"What's that?" she asked.

Suddenly he grinned devilishly and winked at her. "You'll never have to worry about finding a husband," he laughed.

Her curious stare turned back into a glare, which made him laugh even harder. Her mask began to crack, before she too was joining him in laughter. She knew that he was just trying to change the topic and lighten the mood. And, as usual, it worked.

However, she knew it was true about her, at least if appearances were all that mattered. She really did take after her mother, though she knew there was also some of her father in her as well. Standing at an average height, she had gorgeous blonde hair, normally kept in a ponytail, beautiful grey eyes and near flawless pale skin. She had her father's high cheekbones and firm jawline, with his straight hair as well, near opposite of her mother's wavy hair. Everything else about her, however, was all her mother, even down to her athletic body. But, she had her grandma's temperament, which she knew took a special sort to be able to deal with.

"I don't think I've ever met anyone who could put up with my attitude enough to love me like that," she laughed.

He grinned at her. "I suppose that's true, isn't it? I might have to end up marrying you off to some deaf person. At least then your tongue wouldn't chase him away," he joked.

She tried to look angry at him, but eventually gave it up as a lost cause. No-one knew how to make her laugh quite like her father.

After they had both calmed down, Carma slowly stood up and began to stretch. As she did so, her father began to speak again.

"You know what today is, right?" he asked.

She nodded slowly. Of course she knew the day. He grinned at her. "Well then, meet me in the kitchen downstairs. Sidious and I have a little surprise for you!" With that, he took off, displaying that he still had a few decades of youth left as he bounded down the stairs like a teen, despite being in his late 30's. She grinned after him, and slowly followed him downstairs, to where her black haxorus, Sidious, was waiting.

As soon as she cleared the final step, she made her way through the halls of their comfortable, though not excessive, home until she reached the kitchen, where she stopped briefly. She took a deep breath, and then slowly rounded the corner into the room.

There she was met to the sight of her younger brother, who was the spitting image of their dad, her father and her childhood pokemon, gifted to her when she was 14 when he was still an axew, Sidious. All looked incredibly happy to see her, especially the shiny dragon, who stood only a little taller than her at six feet.

"Happy birthday!" her brother and father shouted, as Sidious roared happily. She beamed at them, watching her brother approach her while holding a cake with an image of Sidious on it as well as two lit candles forming the number 18.

"Thank you! You all got me something nice, right?" she asked cheekily, knowing they wouldn't mind. They laughed, though Sidious looked slightly worried. Her joy changed to concern for a moment. "Er… what did you guys get me?"

Her father smiled at her and nodded towards a large box on the table. "Well, why don't you go and see?" he suggested.

She nodded once, affirmatively, before pausing for a second and turning to her brother David, who was still holding the cake. He raised an eyebrow at her, shifting the cake towards her slightly. She grinned, then leaned down and blew hard, snuffing out the flames.

 _I wish that I will be helpful to the resistance in the future._

From a young age, almost from the moment she could walk, she was trained in the skills necessary for defending herself. Not long after that, she had begun to train in the arts of strategy and pokemon battling, essentially being groomed to take over after her father retired from being a gym leader. But, as she grew older, she learned that her parents were actually rebels, and why her mom really wanted her to take lessons in self-defense and strategy. So that she had a higher chance of surviving in whatever hostilities followed.

Initially, her dad had been all for it, saying that it was good for her to learn and to be prepared. However, that changed when her mom died at Temple Pavvla, five years ago. He decided that he didn't want his children to be involved in the fight, and tried to keep them as far from danger as possible. When she was 14 and her uncle had given her Sidious, her father reinforced that he didn't want her to be involved, forbidding her from training as a pokemon trainer. Sidious was to just be a pet, and that was all.

Of course, that didn't stop her. She still trained with her new pokemon every day, in secret of course. Or at least, she had thought it was a secret. A few weeks prior to her birthday, her 18th birthday, the one being celebrated now, her father had confronted her. He told her that he knew she had been training Sidious, despite his wishes. He knew he couldn't stop her, and seeing as her birthday was coming up which signified her as becoming an adult, he decided to ask if she was serious about this. When she answered that she was, more serious than ever before, he had only nodded before disappearing for a few days.

The last five years of her father telling her that it was a horrible idea, that helping the resistance was suicide, made her question if she was really good enough. Really capable enough.

 _And I wish that I'll truly be strong enough._

Bringing herself out of her thoughts, she smiled at her brother again, before turning around and walking to the box on the table. As she neared, she hesitated, wondering what she would find. She glanced at her father, eyes asking him a question. He nodded again, though now he too looked a little sad. She steeled herself, and then reached for the cover on the box. She removed it, and slowly looked inside.

Inside there were a few items. A rather large black bag rested on the bottom, one she recognized as being the latest in trainer gear and fashion. It was obviously well built, and even appeared to have a few custom elements on it, such as their family crest sewn onto the back, the grey, fern enshrouded moon standing proudly, with the moon appearing to be made of steel. She felt herself begin to smile.

On top of the bag there rested six grey collars, also with their family crest on them each. She knew what these were as well.

In Asmira, ever since the Core took over many years ago, it became a requirement for all pokemon carriers, those who wanted to be official trainers anyway, had to have their pokemon wear a special collar. There were a lot of theories surrounding the collars, but the general consensus is that the collars were a means of keeping track of trainers. Each collar had an I.D. number, which registered the pokemon to their owner via their trainer I.D. Later on, as technology improved, admittedly slower than before the Core, this system evolved into one where six collars could be registered to one earpiece, which served as a trainer's I.D. card in place of plastic. As an added bonus, as well as an apparent incentive to get people to become trainers and have their pokemon wear collars, a feature was included that allowed the wearer of the earpiece connected to the collars to be able to hear and understand their pokemon. Essentially, they became a pokemon to human speech translator.

Very recently however, in the last two years or so, more developments had arrived. Some scientists loyal to the Core had developed an implant, that acted almost exactly the same as an earpiece. The only difference is that the implant was delivered via a shot into the trainer's spine. Although she didn't understand the full science behind it, the basic idea of the shot is that it adjusted the trainer's entire body and brain through the spinal column. It made it so that they could still hear their pokemon, but supposedly it sounded clearer, without any hint of electronic interference or static. As another added bonus, it was easier on the ears.

A downside to the implant was that initial tests left trainers disabled. Some people's bodies rejected a foreign machine being implanted and attached to their spine, causing the body to slowly shut down, usually starting with trainer's losing the ability to control their legs. As a result, these were less common, and only used by those wealthy enough to afford them.

However, even more recent breakthroughs nearly eliminated this risk altogether. Trainer's being paralyzed went from being the 20% range to down to below the .9% range. There was less than a one percent chance that a trainer would be disable via an implant now.

If Carma were to ever get her father's approval to be a trainer, she had assumed that she would be receiving the earpiece. However, laying on top of the collars, plain as day, was what appeared to be an injecting gun. Presumably, it was the safest and most efficient means to getting the implant, although she had to admit that the size of the needle looked absolutely terrifying.

"Father… is this… are you saying what I think you're saying?" Carma asked breathlessly, turning to glance at her father questioningly. He smiled at her, though it looked strained, and nodded.

"Yes Cary, it's exactly what you think it is," he answered slowly.

She turned her head back to look into the gift box. "But… what made you change your mind? And why the implant?"

He rested his hand on her shoulder again. "What changed my mind over these years is how diligently I saw you training, both yourself and Sidious. You've put in so much effort, so much time, that when the time came for you to be 18, I knew you'd become a trainer anyway. This way… this way, you will have the best of the best. If you're going to do this, I don't want you to feel like you're going against me. I want you to know that I will always be there to help and support you. As for why the implant, well… as I said, you'll have the best of the best. That implant right there is the latest one in the market, developed by Guardian scientists. It's an… improved version of what Core troops use. Has all of the benefits, and none of the downsides. Meaning… it's one hundred percent safe." He paused to grin at her, actual mirth in his eyes this time. "Besides, I can only have the best for my angel, now can't I?" he asked her cheekily.

She beamed at him, before stepping closer and quickly wrapping her arms around him, bringing him into a bear-hug. "Thank you so much," she breathed. She felt him chuckle and wrap his arms around her as well, feeling him gently stroke her back.

"You're very welcome dear," he murmured. He then slowly pulled away from her and held her at arms-length. "Now then. Are you ready now, or would you like to wait a day?" he asked, staring into her eyes.

She shook her head furiously. "Oh now, I'm ready now!" she exclaimed excitedly. He chuckled, and nodded.

"I was fairly certain that you'd feel that way," he laughed as he shifted her aside to reach into the box for the injector. He then looked at her and twirled a finger in the air, telling her to turn around. She nodded breathlessly and turned around to face her brother, who was grinning at her. She carefully reached behind her head and pulled her long hair out of the way, giving the big needle access to her neck.

"Now stand still, and don't flinch. This will hurt for a second, but once it's in, it's in. You should be able to connect to the collars immediately once we're done, but it may take a few minutes," he told her. She didn't answer, instead standing motionless.

She felt him shift behind her slowly, before feeling something cold and sharp press against the back of her neck. She breathed in, and then breathed out slowly. As she did so, the needle suddenly pierced her flesh, going all the way to the bone. She heard the sound of pressured gas being released quickly, as well as a sharp, almost fiery pain at the base of her skull. Then she heard an electronic beep, and felt the needle leave her skin.

Immediately the pain dulled, leaving only a small throbbing feeling where the pain had been. She heard a few more beeps, before things went silent. She turned around to look at her father, wearing a broad smile, only to frown as she realized that he was saying something. Only… she couldn't hear it.

She started to panic slightly, wondering if she would be deaf for the rest of her life. Before she could delve too far into thoughts about her being deaf for the rest of her life, she heard another beep, followed by a soft whooshing sound, as though wind were being blown just past her ears.

"-but don't panic, it'll wear off shortly," her father was saying. She glared at him.

"A little warning that I would go deaf for a second would have been nice," she said, before wincing. Her voice sounded louder than normal. Then she heard another beep, before hearing no more. She gazed at her father quizzically. "And why do I keep hearing a beeping sound?" she asked.

He chuckled at her. "I could have told you that you wouldn't be able to hear for a second, but where's the fun in that? As for the beeping, that's the implant calibrating to your brain. It should be done now though," he answered, grinning. She glared at him.

Then she chuckled and shook her head. "Well, no harm no foul I suppose," she said, before looking towards the box once more. "Now how do I connect it to the collars?" she asked.

Her dad nodded. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. They're already connected. All you have to do is put them on your pokemon, and turn them on. Which reminds me. If you look in the bag, you'll find a couple pokeballs. They're normal Luxury Balls, just customized to go with the rest of the gear," he answered, gesturing at the box again.

Carma raised an eyebrow at him. "Grey I'm assuming," she said, a small smirk on her face. He chuckled again.

"Well, I figured they'd match your eyes," he retorted. She laughed, and reached into the box, pushing the collars aside for now to pullout the bag. _Heavier than I expected,_ she thought as she opened the pocket normally designated to pokeballs. As she did so, she glanced back into the box to see if she had missed anything. As her hand reached into the pocket, she immediately felt the small orbs of pokeballs in their storage form, and also saw that she had missed something. A belt. _Trainers belt, obviously,_ she thought, noticing the small clips on the side designed to connect to a pokeball.

She pulled out one of the pokeballs and saw that they were indeed grey, again with the family crest on them. _Guess he doesn't want me to forget my heritage._

She tossed the ball in the air and caught it easily, before pressing the button to enlarge it. She turned to look at her haxorus, who still looked troubled. "Are you ready?" she asked him. He slowly shook his head, and then pointed at the box full of collars. Realization dawned on her. "Ah, you want to talk first?" she asked. He nodded.

She shrugged, and then reached inside the box for one of the collars and pulled it out. She glanced at it, and saw that it had a number on it. Sewn onto the side was the number 4. She frowned, and then searched through the box until she found the one with the number 1. Then she unfastened it, and approached her dragon companion as he bared his neck toward her. Reaching around the blades on his face carefully, she wrapped collar around him before fastening it. Then she reached for one of the buttons on the thicker part, where she knew would be the power button, and pressed the larger one. She heard a faint click, seeming to come from behind her, and then backed away.

"Well…," she started, before trailing off. Then she shrugged. "I guess just say something."

Sidious nodded. Then he opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Can you hear me?" he asked. She grinned brightly at him, and nodded furiously. His own face brightened considerably, and he began to talk excitedly. "Oh Arceus, this is awesome! Alright, so, first thing. What happens to me inside of a pokeball?" he asked.

She grinned, delighted to finally be able to understand him without guessing at what he was saying. "Well, from my understanding, nothing. It'll be as though you're in limbo, with no pain or anything. I've never been inside of one before, but I know it's completely safe," she answered.

He nodded slowly, though he still looked doubtful. He stared at her appraisingly. Then he sighed, and nodded again. "Well, I suppose that we might as well officially capture me. I'll let you know once you bring me back out what it's like," he said dubiously.

She grinned, and then held the enlarged pokeball out to him. He raised his arm, hesitated for just a moment, and then tapped it with his claw.

Immediately the room was filled with a red light. When it disappeared, Sidious was gone, and the ball in her hand began to shake once, then twice, and finally, a third time. Then she heard another click, and the ball was still.

She didn't waste any time, and immediately pressed the button to release him, filling the room with a red light again. Once it disappeared, Sidious was standing where he was a moment before, a stupefied expression on his face.

"Well… that was different," he said after a short while. Then he shook himself and gave his impression of a human grin at her. "I have to say, that was awfully… cozy."

She grinned back. "Well, I'm glad that it wasn't horrible," she said. Then she turned back to her father and brother, both of whom were staring at her curiously. "You know what needs to happen next, don't you?" she asked her father.

The gym leader looked at her curiously. "Oh? What might that be?" he asked. She grinned again.

"Why, I need to challenge you to a pokemon battle of course!" she exclaimed.

He blinked at her slowly. Then he grinned. "Going against the ice type gym first? Said to be one of the toughest, if not the toughest gym in Asmira? With a dragon type as your starter? Quite bold of you I must say. Quite bold of you indeed. But, before we do that, I need to ask you something," he said.

She blinked at him curiously. "Well, ask away then," she replied.

His expression turned serious. "You know that in order to be a member of Asmira's Guardians, you need to have at least one gym badge, right?" he asked. She nodded. He sighed, and looked at his feet. "Well then… I must tell you that I will not be going easy on you," he told her, grinning at her with a challenge in his eyes. "I'll schedule a battle for you tomorrow at around noon."

 **-!-**

 **[Sidious]**

 _What a wonderful creature,_ he thought, gazing at his sleeping trainer. He always felt lucky to be with her, despite the fact that she usually had a very short temper. She almost never yelled at him anyway. Almost.

Of course, if he had done something wrong, that was different. But he learned, and as he learned, his mistakes became fewer and fewer. Nowadays, he rarely made any, if at all. And the ones he did make were very minor.

When he had first met her, that was a different story. He was a young axew, barely knew anything. Looking back, he was surprised that she didn't just give up on him so many years ago. He felt that he would have. Instead, she showed an infinite amount of patience, despite her fiery personality. She coached him, guided him, and turned him into the efficient 'mon he was today. And he would always love her for that.

Now, as he watched her sleep, he felt his heart go out to her. Unlike him, her mother was dead. Had been for some time. But she never let that stop her, never let it sway her. She never seemed sad to him, though he knew that she was deeply hurting inside almost every single day. Especially on a day that reminded her of what she had lost, such as her birthday. He felt that it was particularly cruel of Arceus to have let that horrible event occur on a day that should have such a positive meaning in her life. A day where she should have been happy, with nothing to be sad or upset about.

He supposed that it was childish thinking on his part that wanted her special day to be completely flawless. The real world didn't work the way that he might hope. Horrible events could happen on almost any day, regardless of what sort of meaning the day might hold to those that are affected.

The bombing at Temple Pavvla had taken many lives that day, so much so that one life, no matter how important it might seem to another, was just another number in the total count of those affected. Mrs. Grey, while she was an exceptional woman, was much in the same boat.

 _Real sensitive of you,_ he thought to himself, frowning slightly. But he knew that that was the truth of it.

He sighed sadly. He didn't know why his thoughts took these turns late at night, but take them it did. It was just part of who he was.

As he gazed at her, he felt a surging wave of intense determination flowing through him. _If it is in my power, I will never let any harm or unfortunate circumstance affect her so ever again. I will help her rise to the status that I know she can achieve, and she'll have scarcely a tear on her cheeks along the way. No matter the difficulty, no matter what we might be up against, I will make it so,_ he swore to himself. _And tomorrow, my dear Carma, I will defeat your father for you._

Content with himself for the night, Sidious smiled softly, and then curled on her large bed that was picked with his size in mind. Then he closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

 **-!-**

 **[Carma]**

The next day was bright, with the promise of a great battle ahead, as well as the possibility of her starting out on her greatest adventure yet. As she got out of bed and made her way out to the window to watch the snow-covered mountains glisten and shine in the morning sun, she thought that she had never seen a day that looked quite so beautiful or promising. She grinned determinedly.

 _This is it,_ she thought excitedly. _This is the day that my life starts anew!_

She looked towards her best friend and first pokemon, who was still curled up and snoozing quietly on her bed. She grinned devilishly as she tip-toed around the bed until she was on his side. She stood over him, watching with quiet excitement, before she suddenly leaped onto him with a loud yell.

"Waaah!" she shouted, right before she landed on him and started shaking him.

Despite her provocations, Sidious lazily opened an eye to glare at her. Then he sighed noncommittedly and began to uncurl himself slowly, with her still atop him. At this point in their partnership, he was well used to her behavior.

"Is it really necessary to wake me up like this?" he growled softly.

She grinned down at him. "Of course it is! Especially on today of all days! Today is when we begin our journey!" she exclaimed. His glare deepened.

Then his expression softened and she heard him chuckle. He yawned greatly, before he grinned sharply at her. She felt a feeling of dread fill her.

 _Oh no,_ she had time to think, before the great dragon jolted upright, sending her flying across the bed and onto the floor, knocking the wind out of her. "Oof!" she gasped, as she dimly heard him chuckle. _Bastard._

By the time she got her breath back, Sidious was already on his way out the door, seemingly in a hurry to leave before she got to her feet. "This isn't over!" she shouted after the fleeing dragon. She heard him laugh as he left through the hall.

When she finally arrived downstairs to the dining room, she saw Sidious sitting quietly next to the table eating a rather large breakfast steak, seeming to all the world as if nothing had taken place. She glared at him mutinously as his eyes caught hers. He couldn't fool her. She just knew that he was laughing internally.

"Asshole," she muttered at him as she took her seat next to his location. He just chuckled in his deep voice, that she was still so unaccustomed to hearing.

She poured herself a bowl of cereal and briefly thought about their strategy for when they faced her father. She knew that he already had his picked out, as he was most likely already at his gym, either preparing or facing off against the few challengers he had scheduled for the morning.

 _Dragon's are usually weak to ice, and despite the fact that I've been conditioning Sid to get used to and withstand colder temperatures, they'll still be very effective, and his dragon type moves will be not very effective at best. I'll have to use mostly physical moves I'd imagine. Although, Incinerate could be very useful,_ she mused. She shrugged. _We'll win. We have to win._

She glanced at her partner, and smiled. This would indeed be an incredibly tough challenge, but she knew that they could face it. Overcoming it would be a different story entirely, but they would give their all, and that was all that could be asked of them. It certainly wouldn't be no walk in the park, that was guaranteed.

She shook her head, and glanced down at her watch. Her eyes widened in shock almost immediately afterwards.

The time was 11:23am. They'd have to move quickly if they didn't want to be late. She tapped Sidious on his shoulder.

"We've gotta go!" she told him excitedly, before leaping out of her chair, slinging the bag that was still on the table over her shoulder as she did so, and ran to the house's entrance, with her haxorous right behind her.

After a rather lengthy run, they arrived in front of her father's gym, both breathing hard, though Carma significantly more so. She glanced at her watch again, still breathing hard. 11:57am. She let out a sigh of relief. She dimly heard the roar of a crowd as they awaited for the next match to take place.

Then she pulled herself upright and ran through the doors and into the rather plain gym, with nothing more than a pokeball set above the entrance. This was a gym of business, not flashiness.

She made her way to the front desk, where a young woman stood, typing away at a computer. As Carma and Sidious made their entrance, her eyes lifted from the screen to look at them. She smiled warmly.

"Hello you two! You're almost late! Best hurry now, you know where to go," she told them.

Carma nodded and gave the lady her thanks, before sprinting through a door that was just to the left of the main desk.

Once through, they were greeted to the sight of a large room, with no ceiling to cover it, baring the rooms occupants to the elements, regardless of what they might be. Carma's eyes glinted excitedly. _This time, I'm an official challenger,_ she thought. _And this time, I'll be the one leaving with the Greyton Badge._

She calmly walked towards the platform that was for the gym challengers, opposite of the one that she knew her father was currently standing on, and ignoring the roar of the crowd. She gracefully made her way to it's top, gesturing for Sidious to take his place below the platform.

"Citizens of Asmira!" she heard an announcer say, his voice seemingly overly loud. But she knew that it had to be, if not for the benefit of the television that was broadcasting the match, then certainly for the people in the stands. She let her eyes wander over them as the announcer introduced her father. They were packed.

 _I don't think I've ever seen this many people in here before,_ she thought, smiling softly at the cheers. But, it didn't bother her. Not at all. If anything, it only made her more determined to do the best she could. The entire nation was watching.

All Gyms in Asmira broadcasted their matches to the public, but she knew that Greyton's broadcasts usually brought in the most viewers, as there was rarely a match that wasn't exciting. It had a reputation after all.

She slowly tuned back into her surroundings as the announcer began to introduce her. She grinned at his words, knowing that her father had had it scripted beforehand.

"And ladies and gentlemen, you're in for a treat tonight! This challenger is definitely something special! Introducing Greyton's own, the beautiful, the charming, the _firey_ … Carma Grey!"

And the crowd went berserk.

* * *

 **And that's all!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it! I know I certainly enjoyed writing it :3.**

 **I also hope that you're excited for Carma's next chapter. You should all know by now what it is going to contain. And why not start off this story with a metaphorical bang? Right into the action! :3**

 **LET'S GO SID!**

 **Truthfully, there isn't much for me to say, other than that I hope you enjoy, and let me know of your thoughts!**

 **This is Crisis, handing the stage over to the next author!**


	2. Chapter 2: Aeric

**Hey all, Altus here. This is my first installment in our Asmira series.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own EOtech, Israel Weapon Industries, Fabrique Nationale, or Gamefreak.**

* * *

 **-!-**

"Do you ever think about it?" she asked, turning to me from her spot on the staircase.

"Think about what?"

"Us. This. The Core."

He chuckled. "What is there to think about? You joined, and I was born into it. The Core is our home."

"No… That's not it…" she replied, her head tilting down in thought. "I'm thinking… Are we on the right side?"

"Careful Serena. That's coming awfully close to treason."

"I know Aeric. Still, no side is innocent in a war. Major David-"

"Was tried and hung. He was collaborating with the enemy." interrupted the male, now known as Aeric.

"But why? Core soldiers are especially known for their fierce loyalty. What could have caused one, especially a leading member, to go turncoat on us?"

He didn't answer, now honestly thinking about it himself. Finally, he stood up. "I don't know why he turned on us. But it's best not to question it, lest we risk treason as I've already said. Now come on. We've got to get back to our posts."

She nodded in agreement, and began going upwards, with him heading downwards.

-!-

Aeric shook his head, trying to clear it of the memory. _No,_ he thought to himself. _I don't need to be thinking about that. Not right now._ And honestly? He probably shouldn't be thinking about it period. His father won't- no, wouldn't have, liked it.

With a sigh, he looked up at the casket in front of him, the small picture on top of it catching his eye once more. It was of him, his father, and his twin brother Richard. In it, they were on a small boat, fishing for magikarp. They all looked content, happy even. But the picture was taken before they found out their father had cancer. From the moment of diagnosis, he was told he would survive for another six months. He lasted three.

Aeric thought about all of this, and what was to come. After their father had fallen, the title of leader of the Core fell on Richard, as he was technically older than Aeric. That was more than likely good though, as he always was stronger than Aeric emotionally. Their father's death had hit them both hard, but Richard remained strong. He was, for a time, Aeric's shoulder to cry on. Though they weren't especially close, he always tried to be there for his "little brother". But, when he couldn't be, Aeric's friend Serena always had been.

Serena, while she wasn't nearly as strong or fast as the other Core soldiers, she was smarter. Being the same age as Aeric, the two had quickly made friends in grade school and, though he was taught to think and react, she had taught him to _feel._ And with those emotions came attachments. That's why his father's death had hit him so hard compared to Richard. But, the sense of loss was not the only thing it brought. His mother died when he was five, and in turn, he and his brother were given a Gible, which they promptly named Gabby.

Gabby played with them both, though she quickly gravitated more towards Richard. That was fine with Aeric, as he grew close to his father's froslass, Deliah.

Speaking of the froslass, it was sitting on a chair in the corner of the small funeral parlor. With a sigh, Aeric looked up from his spot in the parlor towards Deliah, who was already looking back at him with a worried look in her eyes. Slowly, she got up out of the chair, floating her way towards Aeric.

"Master? Are you going to be okay?" she asked, concern evident in her translated voice. While he was glad she could talk to him, he wasn't exactly happy with the circumstances behind it. His father had given him and his brother both an earpiece and six collars. The collar itself, one of which was around the froslasses neck, connected to the earpiece, which translated what the pokemon said into a language he could understand. It was a sort of last gift from him to the two.

Aeric didn't say anything, instead just shaking his head as a single tear dripped down off of his cheek. Slowly, she floated forward, wrapping her arms around Aeric. "It's okay… Just let it out…" she cooed gently, tears coming to her own eyes as he pulled her closer, ducking his head under hers.

After a moment of silence, he sniffled and pulled back, taking her hands in his. "How? How are you not hurting?" he asked her, tears now dripping from his eyes. She smiled grimly and shook her head.

"It hurt me as well master… But… Pokemon and humans are different in our views. What you see as death, we see as a chance at new life. You know of the distortion realm, yes?" He nodded once, and she continued. "Well, we also believe in what you humans call heaven. Takama-ga-hara. We do not cry for our losses as much, not because it doesn't hurt us, but because we know that they live on. Both there, and in here." she finished, placing a hand on his chest where his heart would be.

They held each other's gaze for a moment, before he broke it to look at the closed casket once more. As one, they walked over to it, each of them placing a hand on its wooden surface.

"Goodbye… Father."

"Goodbye… Victor."

They turned around and began walking towards the entrance of the parlor, where a guard stood waiting. "Where is my brother?" he asked. The guard pat his shoulder awkwardly, in his own effort to console Aeric.

"President Richard took the day off. He's at the shooting range. Would you like for me to escort you?" he asked, already taking a step forwards. But Aeric stopped him with a hand.

"No, it's fine Dale. I'll see myself there." Then, he began walking towards the entrance to the funeral home. Already, he could hear the steady staccato of gunfire as he moved. Ironically, the funeral home was right next to the armory, training area, and the shooting range. The hospital wasn't too far off either.

As he crossed the street to go to the shooting range, he could hear the quick two-step of a person approaching behind him. He turned to see Serena approaching him, her personal Tavor strapped to her back.

Not saying a word, she held him at arm's length, before drawing him into a hug of her own. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it. Victor was a good man, Aeric. He deserved more than… that."

He didn't respond, rather pulling out of her grasp and reaching down to his side to unholster his standard issue pistol. It was a Barak SP-21, and by far his most favored weapon. Though it was the standard weapon of all Core soldiers, his was modified slightly. He had remodeled it to take extended ammunition clips and, because his hands were a little larger than normal, remodeled its gripping and chambering as well. All in all, it could take an extra three rounds in its clips, which he had to modify as well, bringing its ammo count to a high 18, 15, or 13 rounds, depending on the type of ammunition he used.

Turning away from Serena, he walked into the front doors of the shooting range, holding it open for Deliah and Serena to pass through after him. Deliah would have followed anyways, but so would Serena. She knew she needed to be there for her friend at the moment.

"So, where's Richard? Could he not make the funeral?" asked Serena, once the door had shut.

"He's here, at the shooting range. I don't think he could take what happened very well." croaked Aeric. He flashed his gun at the lone man on duty, Serena doing the same with her Tavor, and the trio made their way deeper inside.

Passing through a set of steel double-doors, they stepped into the main shooting area, before skimming over each of the individual stalls to find his brother at the one on the far end, firing away with his own pistol, a five-seven. He had a pair of earmuffs on, so it was doubtful that he could hear them approaching. Not that it mattered. Around him lay at least half a dozen empty ammo clips. Shocked, they turned to look at the standard set of paper targets.

The targets, or what was left of them, slowly came forward, revealing the damage dealt. Not a single round had landed outside the outer ring. Serena let out a slow whistle, grinning slightly. "Nice job, Rich. _Almost_ as good as me."

"Almost?" he replied, as he peeled off his earmuffs. "That's as good as you on your best days, if not more." In response to that statement, she stepped up to the stall next to him, sending a set of targets forwards and pulling her Tavor off of her back, holding it up for the two brothers and froslass to admire.

The gun itself was a real beauty. It could be modified to suit an individual's length. But hers specifically was of the STAR-21 variation. It had an underbarrel bipod, as well as an EOtech reflex sight with a flip-up ACOG scope, and had a cool blue finish, excluding its barrel, which was black.

Deftly, she flipped the ACOG to the side, choosing instead to use the reflex sight to prove her point. After a few seconds, she fired off her shots- simple three round bursts. Ten burst shots later, she shouldered the weapon, bringing her hand down to the button that brought the targets forward. As soon as the target reached her, she yanked it out of the clamps, holding it up to Richard with an obvious smirk on her face. "Told you."

And told him she had. The paper target, impossible though it seemed, did not have a single hole outside the inner ring, which was completely gone. Richard stared at it, mouth open. Aeric on the other hand, wasn't surprised. He had seen her hit a can with it at 300 yards. Granted, she had equipped an extended barrel, but the point remained. With a sigh, Aeric turned around and began walking away, Deliah following soon after.

"Hey, wait a second Aery." called Richard, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. The older brother spun him around, pulling him into a tight one-armed half hug. "I'm sorry it happened so soon." he said, his voice a low whisper. "You were closest to dad. This shouldn't have happened so soon for you."

"I know big bro… But… Why didn't you come to the funeral?"

"You know me… We all have to deal in our own ways. This is mine." he said, holding up his pistol. Aeric nodded his understanding and turned away, looking over the stalls himself. But, he shook his head. "Maybe for you, but not for me."

With that, he slid his pistol into its holster, stopping when his phone rang in his opposite pocket. When they answered it, he heard the voice of General Davidson on the line.

"Sergeant White?"

"Yes, General." he replied, his back straightening almost instantly and his voice void of emotion. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that with the higher officials in the Core, he could not show as much emotion, if any at all.

"Report to the command post, immediately. There is someone here to see you. I am about to ask the same of your brother, President Richard."

"No need, General. He's here with me, I'll get him to come too."

"Good. Oh, and Aeric?"

"Yes, General?"

"I'm sorry about your father. He was a good person, and a great leader."

Internally, Aeric smiled at that. Not all of his generals had exactly thought well of his father, though that was how he liked it. He enjoyed getting more than one perspective on situations, and it often was a key factor in the decisions he made, which was what made him a great leader. As a father however, he succeeded because he "always had time for his boys."

"Thank you, general."

"Please, you two are meeting us on informal terms. Call me Jacob, or David if you must." This caused Aeric to hesitate, but nevertheless, he responded, saying "Yes, Eric. We'll be there in twenty minutes."

With that, he closed his phone, and slid it back into his pocket. He turned to Richard briefly, long enough to say "General Davidson needs us." and look at Deliah. She floated over to him as he held out a pokeball, gently pressing it to recall herself into it. He replaced it on his belt and walked out, already planning on taking a taxi to the command post.

Honestly speaking, he felt bad for Deliah. He knew she did not like being put inside her pokeball, but it was either that, or he leave her behind at his quarters. General Davidson, kind though he may be, did not like, nor tolerate, any pokemon at all. So, it was best for her to remain in the ball.

Soon enough, he was riding up to the command post, the cab driver immediately being allowed in the gate when the guard at the post saw Aeric. Upon his request, the cab driver stopped in front of the main entrance, allowing Aeric a full view of Richard and General Davidson, who stood in the main lobby conversing with one another. Aeric muttered under his breath as he paid the cab driver, a little agitated. How the hell did Richard do that? He hadn't left before Aeric, and as far as he knew, he didn't own any other pokemon besides Gabby.

"You say somethin?" asked the cabbie, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

"No, I didn't. Regardless, thanks for the ride, mr…"

"Joseph. And thanks for listening to me ramble on!" He had been talking? Oops. Regardless, he smiled back at the cabbie and shook his head. "It's no trouble. I enjoy listening to others." A lie straight through his teeth, but he more than likely wouldn't meet the cabbie again. "See you later."

At that, he shut the door, turning and walking into the building where Richard and the General stood, a smug smile on the former's face. "What took you so long?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"I still don't know how you get over here so fast President Richard. I had to take a taxi, and I still left ahead of you." Aeric replied, remaining formal. In reality, he wanted to say something much more crude to his brother, but General Davidson definitely would not allow it. He did not feel like running another three laps around the city again. And while that may not seem like much, the city itself is about 3 miles across both ways, so it would be more like 36 miles, something Richard would have enjoyed watching him do.

General Davidson spoke up then. "I have already explained what's happening to President Richard, and I will do the same with you, Sergeant White. We're meeting with your father's will executor, and after that, because of something in the will, I'm assigning you your first mission."

Aeric nearly fell over at that. His first assignment? Admittedly yes, he'd dreamed of doing something more than just wall work, but to finally get to go out on a mission? He was ecstatic on the inside. Richard smiled, already knowing how excited his brother was to hear that news. He could practically see the twinkle in his eyes returning already, and General Davidson could see it too, though he held his tongue on the matter

"If you'll follow me, please." he said, gesturing with a hand to the elevator near the rear of the lobby.

-!-

"Okay, Richard Daniel White and Aeric Simon White?" asked the suited Lawyer, who sat in front of a large desk. The General had taken a side seat, and the two brothers sat in front of it, listening to the lawyer. As one, they nodded at his question. "Good. Everything seems to be in order. Now all that is left is the will." he said, holding up a small paper. Both Richard and Aeric leaned forwards at that, curious already.

"I'm just going to read the part that pertains to the two of you. Your father wasn't really a man of possessions, so there isn't much. Is that alright?" They both nodded again, and the lawyer's gaze shifted downward, focusing on one of the paragraphs.

"To my two sons, Richard and Aeric White, I leave my entire fortune, to be divided evenly. Herewithin, they shall be placed in locked bank accounts, to be given a small sum of monthly, until the arrival of their twenty-first birthday, upon which, the full funds will become available. Individually, I leave my son, Richard White, my prized hunting rifle, in the hopes that he will get more use out of it than me. To my son, Aeric White, I leave my Froslass, Deliah, in the hopes that he could do what I never did: complete the gym circuit, as well as-

Aeric zoned out, his thoughts springing up immediately. His father had never shown any interest in pokemon battles, and the only pokemon he had ever had was Deliah. Then again, where had he gotten Deliah? He supposed he could ask her, but it seemed too soon.

"Do you understand what you have been given Aeric?" interrupted the lawyer, his tone sharp. Aeric snapped back to attention, shaking his head. The lawyers face remained straight, though internally he was sighing. "Let me read it again. 'To my son, Aeric White, I leave my Froslass, Deliah, in the hopes that he could do what I never did: complete the gym circuit, as well as my pocketwatch and my GTAR."' Everything else does not pertain to you two, except this." he finished, holding out two small white letters to both Richard and Aeric.

His hands shaking, Aeric took the letter from the lawyer, unfolding it to read it's contents.

 _My son Aeric,_

 _I am so, so proud of you. For years, you put up with mean old pops without so much as a single complaint. Despite not liking half the things I made you do, you never hated me, and neither did your brother. I know especially that you hated your latest job, wall duty. In truth, I had you assigned to that. Not because I love you, but because I was afraid. I knew I was sick, long before the cancer actually showed itself. I wanted you close to me, not far away on missions. Now, I realize all I've been doing is holding you back. So, as a last gift from me, I had General Davidson arrange three tours for you, all in different parts of Asmira. Son please, though I'm gone, stay safe. Don't think I haven't seen you with your eyes on that girl, Serena._

Aeric smiled at that. Francis was a jokester, to the end. He rubbed his eyes with a hand, then looked back down to the paper, continuing to read.

 _You've no doubt had my will read out by now, so I want you to keep that GTAR close to you on missions. It kept me alive more than once in my own tours, and I believe that it will do the same for you. One last thing. Please, keep an eye on your brother. You know as much as I do that he's meant to be the leader of the Core, but he's more than that. He's your brother. Be there for him, when he needs you._

 _With love, Your Father,_

 _Francis White_

With a sigh, Aeric sat back on his seat, a small smile etched onto his face. After a moment of contemplating, he turned to the Lawyer. "Where can I get the pocketwatch and gun?" he asked simply, rubbing his hand over Deliah's pokeball in his pocket. He had her, so that was enough for him, but the gun and pocket watch would be nice to have as well.

The lawyer smiled at his question, reaching a hand into the desk. "The gun, you can find in the weapons locker. You're not on mission, so if you want to carry it with you outside of combat zones, you must apply for a permit. As for the pocketwatch, here." He held out his cupped hand, allowing Aeric to pull the mentioned item from his hand. It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Made from hand forged steel, the little piece of technology served as a sort of good luck charm, though the watch itself didn't work. It couldn't, what with the bullet embedded in its front.

Aeric slowly slid it into his belt on the right side, looping it through to sit in his pants pocket. He turned to his brother, who held up a thumb, showing his support for the item. "Looking like Dad already." he said with a chuckle.

"Ahem." came General Davidson. The two brothers turned to him, seeing that he had stood up as well. "I hate to break up this little get together, but I have things I need to attend to, so I have a question or two for Aeric, if that's alright Mr. President."

Richard waved his hand dismissively at the question, signaling for the General to continue. He grew straight faced, and turned to Aeric. "You have two choices, Sergeant White. You can either wait until the next Tour becomes available for you, in about two months. Or, though I don't approve of it, you can leave in two days time on a supply plane headed for the town, Kara's Vale, though we're only staying in the area for another two weeks."

Aeric didn't even think about it before he answered. "I'll take the supply plane." The General's eyebrow raised at that, but he shook his head. "Alright. What about Deliah, your Froslass? Will she come with you, or will she remain here?"

Aeric took longer to think about that. On one hand, she could be a huge asset. Being a partial ghost type, normal bullets couldn't necessarily harm her. On another, there was still a chance they could come up against some opposition that could actually harm her.

Finally, he came to a decision. "I'll just leave that up to her. She should decide that one. As for that permit…" he continued, his voice trailing off. The general, though he had a look of detest on his face at first, smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll be here when you get back."

The lawyer, for a moment, looked like he wanted to voice otherwise, but remained silent when Davidson's eyes turned on him. He scoffed at the silence, then turned to the two brothers.

"You're free to go. Aeric, I want to see that you've gotten at least a little training in before I send you off to Kara's Vale." Aeric snapped to attention, saluting and letting out a crisp, "Yes sir.", before walking out the door to the small room, Richard hot on his heels.

The older brother soon caught up with him, easily keeping pace. "So," he began, "Do you know where Dale is?" Aeric snorted at that, soon doubling over against the elevator in laughter.

-!-

"You're what?!"

That was the first thing Deliah said to Aeric when he told her of the upcoming tour. Honestly speaking, he was surprised she didn't try and slap him at first. They were back at his home in Nara, and he had released her from her pokeball so the two could talk. Needless to say, she wasn't taking the news too well.

"I'm going on tour in two days." repeated Aeric. He made to continue, but Deliah scoffed. "That's it? No goodbye? No, I love you?"

Aeric nearly did a double take at that last statement, but smiled regardless. "I never said you couldn't come with me. After all, I could use a friend where I'm going."

"...Oh. Well, of course I'm coming, but…"

"But?" asked Aeric, confused.

"What about your father? Are you sure you're not just running away from the issue?" she asked. She had a worried gleam in her eyes, and in truth, she may have been right. Aeric had so far shown a similar reaction to Richard's, in the fact that there was little emotion. True, he had gone to his father's funeral, but other than that, nothing.

Aeric sighed, leaning back onto the couch beneath him. He remained silent for a moment, contemplating what Deliah had just asked. Finally, he looked over at her. "Maybe I am, I don't really know. But one thing is for sure. I need to go on this Tour."

"Why can't you just wait for the next one? It's only two months from now, like you said." "That's just it Deliah. I don't want to be here. This place is home, and while home may be where the heart is, i need a break from it all. It reminds me too much of Father."

"And me? Do I not remind you of my old master? Of Victor?" she asked, seemingly hurt. Aeric smiled, shaking his head. "You do, but in a good way. You remind me of all the happy times I had with him."

Deliah looked down when he said that, thinking herself. Finally, she pat the seat beside her three times. Aeric turned, watching as she floated up, and he set his feet where she once sat. she floated over to his torso, laying down and curling up on his chest, as it had become a common practice for the two in recent times.

She spoke up after a moment, nudging his chest gently. "I'm sorry if you don't want me coming with you. I just don't want to see you hurt."

Aeric chuckled, patting her with a hand. "I've no real reason to worry Deliah. They're sending me to Kara's Vale, remember?"

"Maybe, but the rebels…. Who knows what they're willing to do, regardless of the binding festival. You've heard the same horrible stories I have of their cruelty."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. The binding festival is the only REAL neutral time where Core soldiers and rebels interact with one another, besides within the city Omni Resorts. Even then, they keep to separate sides."

"I know that. It isn't going to stop me from worrying." Aeric said nothing, only laying there with his arm over Deliah. Then something occurred to him.

"Are you sure you only want to go to watch over me?" he said with a grin. Deliah shifted uncomfortably then, shaking her head no.

"Are you sure?" he continued, pressing her. "It has nothing to do with the Binding festival itself?"

She giggled herself then, looking up at him. "Maybe~"

"Knew it."

-!-

In the following two days, Aeric informed Serena of his up and coming "Tour", short though it may be. She was excited for him, to say the least. As she was more of the smarter type, she had never really gotten to go on Tour either, though she didn't mind. She and her Skarmory, Stelos, were a great team as wall guards. The "Metal Bucket", as Richard called it oh-so cleverly, was an interesting character. He was slow, though a fair bit faster than most other skarmory like him, and it was obvious he and Serena were close. They often went for flights together, and she convinced Aeric to tag along once, to both Aeric and Stelos's dismay. It was not that they didn't like each other, they got along fine. Stelos, as Serena put it, was territorial, though what over Aeric did not understand.

They did indeed get some training time in, Serena made sure of that. "A good five hours at the target range never hurt anybody." she said, when Aeric lowered his GTAR. The gun, affectionately named Beth by its former owner, was slightly heavy in his arms, especially after five hours of continuous use. But, she was right. Aeric had quickly gotten used to each of the individual firing settings, and was shooting accurately up to 50 yards away, more than enough to deal with any threat in his opinion.

Soon enough, the time came for him to leave for Kara's Vale. He stood by the supply plane as it was being loaded, Serena smoothing out his blue and white uniform. Richard was snickering, and Stelos stood beside her, letting out little huffs that Aeric assumed to be snickering as well. Embarrassed, he stood there as she fussed over him, smoothing out the little wrinkles she could find like a mother and her young.

"You just gonna stand there and let her do that?" asked Richard, his tone finally turning serious. Aeric just shrugged his shoulders. "Not like I could stop her." Stelos, thankfully, took that as his cue to move forward and place one of his metal feathered wings on her shoulder. She looked back at him, nodding slowly as he spoke to her. Though, the most Richard and Aeric could make out was a low, " _Skar-, Skarmory Skar, mory."_

The pokeball on Serena's waist connected to the collar around Stelo's neck, which was in turn connected to a small microchip implanted behind Serena's ear. It was what allowed the trainer to communicate with his or her pokemon, and, once Deliah was registered to Aeric, allowed him to communicate with her.

Serena nodded slowly, turning to Stelos with a large smile. Stelos knelt down, Serena climbing onto his back and locking her legs in front of his wings. Slowly, he rose back up, letting Richard to move past him to get to Aeric.

"So where's Deliah? I thought she was coming with you." he asked, looking around. "She is. I think she's using the restroom."

"Am not!" came a voice from behind them. They all turned to see Deliah approaching them, a rather large brown paper bag in her hands. She stopped at Aeric's side, nudging him slightly with her head, before turning and setting the paper bag at their feet.

"Where were you? I might have had to leave without you." commented Aeric, reaching down and fingering the bag. Deliah popped his hand, smiling. "Not yet! Thats for the trip!"

He chuckled. "What is it?"

"Donuts!" she announced proudly. He gasped, reaching down and opening the bag despite another cry of protest from Deliah. Inside were 8 glazed donuts, all in a neat row. He was tempted to eat one right then and there, but Deliah popped his hand again, taking the bag from him.

"NO." she said, sticking her small tongue out at him. Aeric rubbed the back of his hand, letting out an overdramatic sniffle. "Guilting me won't work, you know." she remarked. Aeric sighed, smiling. "I tried."

"So… what's she not letting you at Aeric?" asked Richard, looking down at the bag himself. He had always not liked being unable to know something.

"Now, if I told you that, you'd make her hand them over." responded Aeric.

"Them? And you know, if I really wanted to, I'd make her hand the bag over regardless."

"Touche. It's donuts. She packed them for the trip up to Kara's Vale." Richard immediately looked hungry, but shook his head. "As much as I like donuts, I'll leave them be. Don't feel like receiving an ice beam to the face for my troubles. As for you going to Kara's Vale, are you still set on going? You haven't gotten on the plane yet, so it's not too late to change your mind."

Aeric smiled at that, reaching over and patting his brother on the shoulder. Normally, his brother wouldn't worry, so it was different, seeing him a little worried now. "It is too late, Richard. Besides, I need this. I need time away from Nara, if only to think."

Richard sighed, but straightened back up, stepping back. "If that's what it takes to get you back here, go ahead."

Just then, the maintenance officer of the plane tapped Aeric on the shoulder, crossing him arms. "We're ready to go. Are you coming or not?"

"I am. Just give me a moment. Does my Froslass have to be in her ball?" asked, Aeric, turning to face him.

"We're wheels up in five, so hurry. And no, she can remain out. The only pokemon that must remain in balls are electric types, interfering with our equipment and all." Aeric sighed a sigh of relief, knowing he would have some form of entertainment during the ride.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, bro," Richard spoke once more. Aeric turned back to his brother before the two met in one last hug, "You stay safe out there. And you," he then turned to Deliah, "make sure he doesn't do anything too stupid, you hear?" he told her with a smirk.

"Don't worry, he'll be safe," she said, but all Richard heard was her saying her name repeatedly. He took it as she understood him. With one last sigh, Richard backed away, where Aeric and Deliah both proceeded to their seats.

Strapping himself in, he looked over and saw Deliah floating right next to him, one of her arms soon wrapping itself around his shoulder. With a smirk, he turned to her, "So about those donuts.."

* * *

 **A/N: Hiya!**

 **So, Altus was being lazy and didn't include a closing A/N. So, that's my que to steal the show! This is Crisis btw!**

 **How are you all liking the story? Do you have a favorite character yet? Do you have a favorite _Author_ yet? :3**

 **I really do hope that you're all enjoying so far. We have a lot of time, effort, and mental struggle put into this story and it's plot. Not even joking, planning began back in June of 2017. It's now October of 2017. Not the longest planning period ever, buuuut~... still. I hope you appreciate it!**

 **There's one more author making his debut in this first set of chapters, but that does not mean least at all ;3.**

 **I wonder what he has planned? Guess you'll just have to find out, now won't you? ;3.**

 **Also, is this kind of story layout unique enough for you all? Too unique? 3: I hope Not!**

 **Hmm... I feel like I should mention something else. Oh well, guess I forgot. What A surprise lmao :3.**

 **Aren't I just such an awesome friend, doing Altus's work for him? Some might even say that I'm awfully _Handy,_ if you catch my drift ;3. I mean, I personally love it when someone else does my work. Actually... that's a lie :3. Oh well, what's he gonna do? Complain? XD**

 **I think I've had the spotlight for long enough, I'd best get my butt moving before I get found out! Enjoy the story!**

 **Altus** **: Crisis, you ass.**


	3. Chapter 3: Aaron

**A/N: Hi, Nexus here… As you may have caught on, this story is a three person job.**

 **Crisis, as Carma Grey.**

 **Altus** **, as Aeric White.**

 **And of course… me(Nexus) as Aaron Black.**

 **Yes, each one of us has a different writing style… so this should be fun to see how well we really connect and flow with each other, or to see if we don't at all. We are gonna try and maintain 3 chapters per upload (One from each) And I hope that the delay between chapters isn't to large.  
**

 **But anyway, let's give this a shot…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo, or Gamefreak.**

* * *

 **[Aaron]**

Pounding, that obnoxious pumping of his heart; a sound that he sometimes wanted to just stop. Quickened breath that felt of fire pouring in and out of his throat, the smell of smoke that never seemed to dissipate, so many things that he just wanted to stop but couldn't find the actions. Falling to his knees at bedside, his pale hands clenched around the bedding of the vacant mattress in a mixture of pain and terror. The voice on the radio going distant as his ears deafened the vibration, while his lungs desperately attempted to drag air into them.

Staring blankly forward over the bed, if someone were present they could see the pain he was in. They would see the heaving of his chest, the shaking of his eyes as they grew dim, and the trembling his body would have made one think he was dying of hypothermia.

But even through his bodies panic, he could still make out the voice on the radio. "And today marks the day my fellow people. The day of the unfortunate explosion that took the lives of many. Our hearts go out to all those that were affected by the unfortunate accident." Came the female voice off the radio, even she had to take a moment -either for the cold of the snow, or the sheer emotion it takes to report such an event.

With shaky words she began again, "And our hearts especially go out to the young man thats parents were killed in the explosion. We all regret that the Black family died in the explosion. She was a great trainer and defender, as was the father -and I really do hope that you are listening to this if you're still out there. But we all give you our best wishes, and hope the best for you wherever you may be. And we surely hop-" she cut off as a wrench flew into and destroyed the small radio knocking it down from its pedestal.

Standing from his kneeled position, his hands balled in frustration. "What the fuck was that?!" yelled an angered male voice from below him. Looking away from the floor to quickly lock the door before someone came up to investigate.

With a roar of frustration he slammed his head into the door causing it to splinter out and harm him. Turning away from the door with his chest still heaving and his heart still pounding, he ignored the blood that trickled down his forehead. Rushing to his desk he gave a quick sweep of all the mechanical parts and tools that littered the desk and onto the floor. With panicked energy, he spun and flipped his bed into the air and across the room all with roars of pain.

With a largely knock, "What the fuck is going on in there boy?!" yelled the voice from below as it had made its way to his door.

Knocking loud again, "Shut the hell up!" the man exploded. "Leave me alone!" Rushing back to his desk when he heard a key enter his door, he grabbed his desk chair only to shove it under the door knob, stopping the angered men from entering.

"Hey. uhhh," paused another male voice. "We just want to like talk to you okay?" He stated as if was having troubles finding the right words to use.

Slumping against the wall opposite the door, the man slowly lowered to sit on the floor of his destroyed room. Folding his legs he brought his head down as streaks started to appear on his cheeks. "Not a chance!" Aaron yelled back.

"Will you at least let your father in?"

With a quick snap, "He's not my father!"

"Umm, alright… Will you talk to me then?" He asked. "Let me start, My name is Aeric White-" he was cut off.

"Lets just bust this shit down," came a shushed voice from beyond the door.

His ears deafened the sound of the ramming, but he knew by the flex of the wood on the door that someone was trying to break their way in.

Suddenly his heart dropped, and with a tired heave -he lifted his way up. Sighing, he trudged across his room to his desk once again. This time however he opened a drawer at the bottom, reaching farther past its full extension he grabbed an object. Pulling it free, he slid his hand back out with a gun, but in the process -a small marble sized ball had fallen out as well. Inspecting the ball briefly, it was red and white -a pokeball. This one however held a crack that stretched along the top the red crest of the ball. Grabbing the shrunken ball he slipped it into a pocket in his black hoodie.

Standing from his desk, he walked back over to his wall as it became harder to breathe with the increase of the heaving his body forced upon itself. Falling into the wall, he slumped back down to sit. Taking the ball back out, he placed it a little off to his side only to stare at it. A small smile spread to his face as more tears began to flow when he pressed the barrel to the side of his head.

Dropping the gun back down, "Stupid," he remarked.

With a staggered and arching beam of red light that shot from the pokeball as it opened; a red mass slowly started to collect to slowly take the form of a two-legged canine. Once it had fully taken her shape after a few seconds, it flashed and in its place stood a black and blue canine with various spikes adorning her form as well as a floor touching long pocketed red scarf.

Shaking her head, she opened her ruby red eyes. Glancing around her surrounding, she settled on him with a warm smile. However her smile soon dropped as she disappeared using extremespeed just as he had lifted the gun up into the air waiting for her to smack it away.

Palming the gun out of his hands, she knelt down to his level. _'Aaron, are you alright.'_ Her voice was calm and sweet, he adored it so. Getting no answer, she ran to the items that littered the floor to find a pair of black headphones connected to a small box. Placing them on his head, she could hear the faint pounding of the music start. Looking back at him, he noticed his breathing had calmed and his shaking had ceased.

"Shots fired! I repeat, shots fired!"

Snapping her head to the door as it shattered open, and in stumbled a short fat man of 5'2" as well as two armored and armed Core soldiers. Their eyes widened in shock at the sight of the canine. With a quick jab to the middle of his face, the fat man collapsed with a small quake. The Core member in full gear to the right opened fire with an automatic rifle, all bullets however bounced off of a faint blue bubble that appeared in front of the canine making holes all over the room. The Core member on the left who wasn't wearing a helmet, reached out to smack his partners rifle down with sneered anger.

Eyes glowing of deep ocean blue, she raised her paws up and both guns fling themselves away from their wielders. Zooming forward, she balled her fists to punch both in the face. Both soldiers falling to the floor. She walked over and picked up both guns before throwing them back down the hall and away from the stairs. Shaking her head with a sigh of being discovered while walking back into the room, she stepped back to the gun she had smacked away from Aaron to slip it into a small pocket in her scarf.

Hearing a few soft slams from out the window, she walked up to it to pear down. In front of the house stood two white trucks with some kind of lights adorning their tops. Taking a quick step away from the window she raced around the room while grabbing a black backpack from the wall. Grabbing various things around the room, such as a couple of pictures, tools, potions, antidotes, and a metal collar. Slinging it over her back, he helped him stand.

Looking into his eyes, _'Aaron, are you alright?'_ she re-asked with telepathy while placing her paw onto his cheek.

"It doesn't matter." he stated coldly while pushing her paw away. Depressingly stepping around her to the window, her head dropped when he could not see her. "They called in backup huh?" He rhetorically asked. Sighing he looked around his room for his backpack.

' _I already packed it.'_ she revealed with her head slightly lowered but still looking at him.

"Oh good, we need to go." He declared while walking to the window. Unlocking and opening the window, a gust of freezing winds drapped the two as they climbed their way out. "Alright, hand me the bag." Without question she handed him the bag. Bringing up her cracked ball, he retracted her in a slower manner opposed to a normal pokeball.

Thud, came the gun as it dropped onto the roof, lingering his stare on it -he reached down to grab it. "Over here, two down one civ! And the window is open!" came a voice from inside. Quickly putting the gun into his bag, he jumped off the roof and onto the top of their truck with a bang of metal. Looking back, a Core member looked out the window with a rifle drawn. Sliding off to the side just as gunfire blared out.

Opening the door to the truck, he turned the key that they had left in the ignition and the engine roared to life. Pulling himself into the seat he yanked the lever down to reverse, before slamming his foot down onto the pedal. Looking back to steer, bullets ring out again as they impact the hood of the truck. In reverse the truck collided with the second truck in the side and pushed it over a small hill, where it flipped and spun its way down making small craters in the snow. Pulling it into gear, he roared down the road. Only coming to a halt when steam blew from the engine and turned off.

Taking a deep breath, he changed the song on his phone and his breathing slowed and calmed. Stepping out of the truck, he winced in pain as his shoulder flared in torture. Looking to it, he pulled his hoodie out to look at his shoulder -he had been shot. His shirt was covered in blood, but luckily his hoodie was still clean for now. Reaching into his bag, he pulled a small rag out, to put in between his shirt and hoodie.

Taking a shallow pained breath of cold blistering air, he continued his walk forward. Stopping in pain as his shoulder flared up yet again. Rolling it slowly to try and be rid of the annoyance, he stopped as the action seemed senseless. Stuffing his hands into the side pockets of his hoodie, he trudged through the snow on the side of the main road, a shittly plowed road at that. Reaching a crossroads, he looked left and right down both ends of the road, before deciding to head right; to make it back to town.

Walking along the bleak road as puffy grey clouds masked the sky and a white sheet of snow concealed the road; he just walked with his head down so passersby could not see his face, as if there would be any. The only sound that could be heard is the sound of a light crunching as he stepped through the ever changing elevation of snow. Looking behind him, he kept looking to see if the other truck had followed him onto the road, to his relief no one had seemed to follow him.

Rolling his wounded shoulder in minor annoyance as it stung again; he looked back up as he approached a checkpoint along the road. Luckily he could not see anyone inside the small building. Sighing in relief, he lowered his head again as he passed by. Eyes wide, he stopped abruptly in front of the small building alongside the road with the sound of crunching ceasing; as he felt a faint rush of hot air drift past him.

Looking into the glassless building, he saw a Core member in full uniform, white and blue, sleeping in a chair; he had leaned back against a wall using only to pegs of the chair to sit. Letting out a small sigh, he noticed the man's gun was resting on his lap, as well as a radio in his jacket. Looking back to the road and to the man in indecision, he rested his eyes on the man as his chest slowly rose and fell. Taking a slow breath he walked up to the door of the building; placing a hand onto the freezing door handle, he slowly pushed down. Meeting a force, he stopped; realizing it was locked. Looking around again, he walked up to the glassless window. Quietly yet quickly, he vaulted through the opening to land silently on the other snowless side.

Standing up from the ground, he looked to the sleeping man again to watch the stable rising of his chest. Quickly walking up, he grabbed the gun by the barrel; to lift it high. The man jolted awake at the sudden movement with a startled yelp, but was stricken by blackness as he was smashed once, good and hard to his right temple.

Falling from the chair with a fumbled thud, the guard was sleeping soundly on the cold floor. Exhaling in relief and success, Aaron dropped down to a knee next to the fallen man. Running over his hands over the Core members pockets to see if he had any other objects of value. Stopping at the feel of something, he reached into the selected pocket to pull out a wallet. Stuffing it into his back pocket, he reached for his handcuffs hidden within his jacket; clasping it onto his wrist and the support pole of the small building, he grabbed the radio from his white and blue jacket. Turning the radio off he opened the back to remove the batteries. Once removed he threw the radio into the woods nearby. Putting the batteries into his backpack, he stood back up and continued walking up the road upward, to Kara's Vale.

After a long walk, he started to see the Vale in the distance. Running his hand over the shrunken ball in his hoodie, he couldn't help but smile. Taking his hand back out he reached down into his pocket to take the wallet from the guard out.

Opening it the old worn leather wallet, "Walter Haince?" He said aloud to no one. Reaching to the back where some bill stuck out from; he pulled them loose. "Cool 45Φ." Reaching behind him once again with the money in hand, he stuffed it into his back pocket. Closing it, he tossed it into the woods with one good flick.

 _ **(A/N Sorry for the interruption, but 'Φ' is a symbol we are using to distinguish our currency from Poke, as it is an undiscovered region and would not use Poke. Also it is called Dyne, while the smaller units will be called Ren.)**_

Lifting his jacket back up, he grabbed the handle of the gun; being sure not to place his finger on the trigger. Pulling it out while his hoodie fell back into place. He rotated it around quizzically, "Haven't seen one like this before?" Pressing the button on the top of the small grip, he grabbed the magazine as it fell. Looking at the bullets with interest, ".380 ACP, not bad; 8 rounds loaded." Turning the magazine, he slid it into place. Placing his hand onto the top of the gun, he racked the slide as a bullet popped out of the ejector. Swiftly, he grabbed the object mid-air; pressing the button once again he pressed the bullet back into the mag. Slamming it shut he laid the gun flat in his palm, "20 to 25," he weighed. "Steel construction, barrel of 3.5"; it'll do." He finished, he reached back to slide the gun back into place.

Reaching the first few buildings in Kara's Vale, he lowered his head once again. Stopping at the crest of a hill, lights could be seen in the far distance over the city; he could see the lights beaming from the ice caps that connected the two islands of Sul. Walking through the emptied city of Kara, he was left to his own thoughts as he switched the music to a new song.

'What am I going to do? I can't go 'home' anymore," he thought while adding emphasis on home.

Stopping in his tracks, he looked into the bustling crowd of people on the frozen channel; most going about their own wants as they partied, but some hung out in large or small groups talking to one another either about personal business or of theories that surrounded the explosion on Atoll Island; if it was an accident, or if it was really Core.

Taking a step over the large incline that led to the shores, Aaron slid down the snow with knowledgeable ease. Pulling his hood tight, he began walking up to the edge of the thick ice, he tentatively took a step onto the unstable ground. Fully stepping onto the ice, he sighed before he continued walking to the mass of people and lights.

The binding, it's the time of year where the channel between both of the Sul islands freeze; creating a bridge that connects the two islands together. Living here, Aaron learned quickly that the locals really like this time of year, plus it was one of the few times that he was allowed to leave the house. Mainly do to the fact that once the Core had taken control of Asmira, the construction of a large bridge that connected the islands came to a halt. Along with pricing being so high, taking a ferry across would have been an ordeal. So during the time of freezing, citizens along with local Core and rebellion come to an understanding; and view The Binding as a natural time and place.

Feeling the thumping and shaking of the ice, Aaron looked up to the large stage with several instruments playing. Drowned out by his own music, Aaron looked back to the small paths that booths had created within the festival.

Stopping, Aaron looked off to his right as a guy in lighter colored camo walked up with his arms out in a outward greeting motion. Along with the large smile that was on his face, "Hey Aaron! Whats up?" The man said, though Aaron could not hear him he learned how to read lips as to listen to music to keep him calm and talk to people at once.

Shrugging his shoulders in pain, Aaron rotated to face the man with his head down; but only so much to hide his face with his hood. Placing a hand on Aaron's good shoulder, "Really, that's it? A shrug? Where have you been man? I haven't seen you around town," the man rambled while Aaron red him.

"I'm being hunted," Aaron spoke quickly flat.

Dumbfounded, the man stared for a good few seconds. "Wait… Really?" He asked while raising his head to look around the crowd. Following suit, Aaron looked around the crowd too. Seeing only a few Core members look to him sideways before going back to talking in their groups. Looking back to the man, Aaron's eyes drifted back to his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me David," he said coldly.

Chuckling, "Yeah, yeah whatever man." Removing his hand, "Any thought on coming to the other side of the water friend?" he asked.

With a single chuckle in amusement, "Now that I'm being hunted, don't see why not. Won't be any safer over there then it is here." The man's smile grew in size at Aaron's statement.

"Sweet! Dude, it is so much better over there, trust me. I made the switch to, it is so much better."

Under his breath, "We'll see," Aaron murmured.

Turning away, David gestured for Aaron to follow him back to the group with a waving motion. Glancing back to the Core briefly, Aaron followed after David. Once David had entered his group again, he gestured back to Aaron as all eyes turned from David to him.

Halting his pace when he came up to the group, "You're Aaron huh?" he read from the smallest of the men in the group.

"Duh," Aaron said dully.

A small silence in the group rose at Aaron's cold demeanor. "Alright, you wanted to join the rebels huh?" asked another from the group -the tallest.

Taken aback by the man's question, "Umm, no. That wasn't my intention, I just wanted to get away from the Core." Came Aaron's cold voice.

"Well, you see… If you want to go to the other side with us. Then you must be a rebel." At the man's remark.

David softly glared to his friend in wonder, "Chris…" David said warningly; while his friend just waved him off.

With a scoff of annoyance, "That's a dumb rule," Aaron said dully.

With an exaggerated laugh, "No need to insult, but it is our rule. Plus, the rebels could use someone of your talents," he tried convincing.

Looking away from the group, Aaron could see several other groups of Core operatives slowly inching their way closer. Growing nervous of his own indecision, he snapped his head back to the rebel group.

"Fine! I'll join the stupid rebels, just get me to the other side." Aaron agreed while looking back to the group. David shook his head at his friends devious actions while he just held a smirk of victory. "Let's just get out of here."

With a raised eyebrow, "Don't you want to stay for the festival? Happens only once a year you know."

With a heavy huff, "No, not really."

Seeing another in the group give a small chuckle, "Then I guess we leave then." With a few nods of agreement, the group slowly started moving to the Eastern Sul Island.

About half way there, Aaron had a question that had been bugging him since they had started to walk. "What did you mean by, we could use someone of your talents?"

"An engineer, someone that can fix shit." Chris stated bitterly.

"I know man, sometimes I can't believe the amount of incompetence in some people." Another of the group stated while laughing.

"Oh, I can… and you know I got stories about that crap." David remarked, gaining a laugh from the group while Aaron remained silent.

Finally making it over to the other side of the frozen valley to the downtrodden city of Candon. Tattered and beaten, but still standing strong, Candon was the rebel town of the Sul Islands. Much of the same architecture style, but damaged; the group talked and walked through the semi-empty streets.

'Kinda sad really,' Aaron thought to himself while looking around the beaten city. Most of the rebels that live and fight here, are from here. Therefor they don't want to hurt their culture, people, or cities, so they won't use any form of explosives, or aggressive tactics. The Core however, have decimated this city. They have no passion or heart for the people or culture that was once here. Passing by only a few dirty random citizens as they walked through the streets, Aaron couldn't help but gaze around the town he had not yet been to. Knowing what it was meant to look like, being used to the architecture -he couldn't believe the amount of damage that had been done.

"What's with all the damage?" Aaron said aloud as the group looked to him.

"Really? We're rebels, comes with the territory." Stated David sadly. "Anyway, we're here." He gestured to a large building in the shape of a tattered stadium, while many guards stood around the area. Stopping, Aaron looked around the large building.

"What's here?" Aaron asked.

Looking back, "I need to introduce you to someone!" David spoke enthusiastically.

Aaron sighed but followed anyway. David and Aaron both walked up the dirtied white stairs to the building while the rest of their small group stayed behind. Walking through the front double doors and into the filthy littered hallways; Aaron looked around in minor disgust at the amount of trash and clutter in the halls. Leading him to a room, David gestured courteously with an exaggerated low bow to the door he had led Aaron to, before stepping out of the way to let Aaron pass.

With another sigh and a shake of his head, Aaron stepped into the room. With the door lightly closing behind him, he looked around the cleaned room.

"Good evening kid," came a voice from behind the desk as a man stood from his chair with a smile on his face. Strong and sharp structured, he nodded his head to me in greeting. "My name is General Brooks."

With a very small nod, "Hi." Aaron spoke cautiously low.

Silence filled the room as Brooks stared at Aaron. "And your name is?" Brooks dragged.

Quick and low, "Aaron," he stated.

Another silence, awkward yet informational for the General. Brooks took a large breath in as if he wanted some kind of noise to break the cold silence. "So, you want to join the rebels huh?" Brooks asked.

"No, not really… but I was told that if I wanted to come over to this side of the binding I needed to be a rebel. I was being hunted so not much of a choice for me." Aaron zipped out as if he hadn't wanted to say that much.

Putting a hand to his chin, the General looked Aaron up and down. "Right~" he exaggerated. "That's not true," Brooks stated while an angered expression creeped over Aaron.

"What?" Aaron growled out.

With a large intake of breath the General stepped around his desk. Staring in silence, the General finally spoke, "I have been wanting to talk to you for quite some time now. You see," he started pacing, "I knew your Mother, and your Father." Aaron glared. "And I know for a FACT, they were murdered." Aaron's face dropped. "The Core caused that explosion, only simply to get to the treasury that was underneath the Temple. The Core are terrorists, always have and always will be, and deserve to be treated as such." Stopping in front of Aaron, he crouched down to be level with him. "So I'm going to offer you a deal."

Aaron rose his head, "What deal?" he asked intrigued.

With another heavy breath, "I will prove publicly that they caused that explosion. And give back to you what is rightfully yours, to be the Guardian of Pavvla; just as your mother was."

"And the catch."

With a small smirk, "If you help me, I will help you. Let's be symbiotic not parasitic, You teach someone all you know about repairing and reprogramming pokegear, and I will help you. Deal?" he finished while putting his hand out.

Lowering his head down in thought, "Who is this person?"

"Ah, I can't tell you that until you agree." He laughed.

Sighing he reached out and grabbed the General's hand with a firm shake. "Now, how is this person?" he asked again, the General laughed which gave Aaron a cloud of uneasiness.

"Aliha, she's a nice girl you should get along great. Plus she is doing the trial to prove herself to the rebels." He explained while walking back behind his desk.

"Trial?" Aaron asked.

"Gathering the gym badges, it's a way to prove your worth." He said while sitting down, "But if you don't mind, I have business to attend to." He began writing on paper.

Aaron turned and took a few steps before looking back, "What about my pokemon, she needs food, to bathe, sleep, and same for me." Aaron stated to the busy man.

"Ah, take a left out the door and go all the way down. Your room is the first on the left, food has already been prepared." He stated while looking back down to his writing.

Aaron was about to ask why they even prepared food if he had not yet agreed, but decided it wasn't really necessary to know that and left with that. Watching as a few armed rebels patrol the halls he waited for them to pass, before starting his walk down the hall. Stepping up to the duct taped door, he examined the damage to it. Shaking his head he opened the door to get a waft of flavorful aromas past him. Fully open Aaron could see a small flat of some kind, one that had an open second floor with a bed. But what really got his attention was the table that was full of food. Closing the door behind him in slow disbelief, he took a few small steps into the semi cleaned room. Snapping out of his stupor, he grabbed the ball from his pocket but hesitated as he was about to release her to look back to the door. It held no lock or safety features at all.

Walking over to the table, Aaron grabbed a chair but lingered at the food. Forcing himself away from the intoxicating smell, he placed the chair under the knob instinctively just as he had done many times before. Nodding at his work in approval he walked back over to the table while taking her ball back out. Pressing the button to allow it to enlarge, he then allowed it to open. Sparking, smoking, and sizzling, the ball forced itself open and almost like a red beamed printer, it took her shape. Her head immediately snapped to the food, bolting to it she came to a screeching halt before looking back to Aaron who was shaking her ball to rid it of smoke and heat.

' _May I?"_ she asked politely, ignoring her ball.

"Of course, go for it. Ladies first, plus now I need to fix this thing again." Aaron stated while plopping onto the small couch. Now with permission she never needed, she sat at the only remaining chair to start scarfing down food. "Slow down Kolby," Aaron stated while not even looking away from his work on the pokeball.

Almost lowering her head in embarrassment, _'Sorry, didn't know I was going so fast.'_ she remarked.

"It's fine, you haven't eaten in awhile so it's natural." He said blankly.

' _You haven't eaten either so you should eat too.'_ Kolby suggested.

"Oh, I will. Just right after I finish fixing this thing."

Silence filled the room as the only sounds and actions were of fixing and eating. Before Aaron finally stood after fixing the ball once again. Sighing, he sat down in the chair as Kolby had already finished by the time he was done and was taking a shower. After he was full, he pushed away from the now empty table. Walking up to the bathroom door he could still hear the water going on the inside.

"You alright in there?" Almost immediately it was followed by a loud gasp, a bang, and a pained groan.

'Umm, yeah I'm fine.' she cracked out. 'Did.. did you want the bathroom?' she asked hesitantly.

With a small laugh, "Only if your done, I can wait."

 **-!-**

Both Aaron and Kolby jolted awake at the sound of a loud knock. Kolby quickly sprung out of the bed to not be caught to close to Aaron in fear that he would yell at her. Groggily standing, Aaron stumbled out of bed. Kolby sighed before flipping over the railing of the second floor and onto the floor with cat like finess, before walking to answer the door. Removing the chair Aaron had placed last night, she opened the door, she was greeted by a long golden blonde haired female with smooth tan skin, and a diamond shaped face with bright green eyes, all tied to a 4'11" slim figure.

"Why hello uhh," she paused while eyeing Kolby's fit body and scarf. "Mam," she finished.

' _Morning,'_ she stated cautiously, with her ear twitching at the sound of Aaron making his way down the stairs.

"Oh! You can speak to me good!" she chipped out. Kolby was about to respond before being lightly scooted out of the way by Aaron.

Aaron just stared at her, almost as if he was just trying to force her to speak. "Hi!" she chirped loudly in self-consciousness.

"Hi," Aaron replied tiredly with a blank stare.

She fiddled with her hands and feet awkwardly before finally taking a deep breath. "My name is Aliha Texit. And you were supposed to teach me some stuff about fixing some stuff!" she sped out.

With a large sigh, "Already? What time is it?" Aaron asked.

Placing a hand on her chin and hip, "Uhhh, like 10 in the morning."

"Come back in 2 hours," Aaron stated before swinging the door closed in her face while Kolby laughed inwardly.

She reopened the door with an exaggerated 'huff', "I was told 10 on the dot, so let's get this started!" she cheered before walking into the room as if inviting herself in. Kolby let out a low growl in her direction before Aaron raised a hand for her to stop. Ceasing immediately, Kolby walked to the corner to watch the girl carefully.

Looking back to the excited girl, "Fine, take a seat. Let me go and get some stuff." Aaron stated before heading to the stairs.

The next 4 hours went by in a blur to Aliha, as she was taught and explained about integrated circuits, microprocessors, NAND Flash Memory, and the correct wiring harness to use for different types of pokegear. Blinking in absence, she looked to Aaron with a look of admiration.

With a bright smile, "Where did you learn of this stuff?" she asked while fiddling the display Aaron had set up while teaching.

"Self taught mostly," Aaron answered quickly, watching as she broke the circuit he had laid out.

She looked back at Aaron with a look of disbelief, "That's incredible."

"I suppose, it is fairly simple to me -but others seem to have problems with it." Standing, he started to slowly pack everything up. "But there is something I am wondering about," he started while looking to her. "Tell me more about this trial." She opened her mouth to speak before Aaron raised a hand to her. "Keep it short," Aaron remarked, as he had found out she could ramble for hours.

Nodding sharply, "Alright… I think you know about the gym challenges correct?" Aaron nodded. "Okay, well there like a way to prove yourself to the rebels, granted it's not entirely necessary -but it's a nice thing to have. They take you more seriously though, so thats the good part."

"Ah, so it's like a useless degree. It cant hurt you but it's nice to have."

"Uhhh… Yeah sure, but I think it's time for me to go for the day." She concluded before standing. Wrapping her arms around Aaron she whispered, "Thanks for the lesson."

Peeling her off, "Don't touch me," Aaron stated coldly while she chuckled nervously.

 **-!-**

Over the next few days, both Aaron and Kolby agreed this was the most comfortable they had ever been. Water when they needed it, and food when they needed it. That's all we really wanted.

Aaron was once again fixing Kolby's pokeball, while she sat on the couch leaning against his side as she meditated. Her eyes snapped open and her head turned to the door just as a knock sounded from it. Aaron's head now snapped to the door as well. Springing and spinning over the back of the couch Kolby landed with precise finesse in front of the door. Swinging the door open in outward in exhilaration.

Her face gave a short sneer at the sight of the other female, "Hey Kolby!" Bounding past her, "Hey Aaron, I'm ready for class number 7!" she squealed with her high pitched voice in excitement.

Kolby looked to the floor while closing the door. Once closed she stood still for a second before her chipper attitude arose back. Spinning back, she froze again as the female and Aaron were standing in a full hug. Anger flashed her form but luckily neither could see her, and her attitude once again returned.

Peeling her off of himself, Aaron set her down. "Aliha, I told you not to do that, and aren't you a little early today?" Aaron asked as he checked the clock. It read 9:10am. Sitting back down to continue his work on Kolby's pokeball, she did a small spin before answering him.

"Better to be early then late right!" she cheered ignoring the fact she had been told repeatedly not to touch him.

' _Can you tell her to be quiet please?'_ Kolby asked to Aaron.

Aaron gave a small glance at Kolby's remark before looking back to Aliha. "Alright, let me go and get the stuff ready." He sighed out. Aaron walked away into the other room, as he was doing so Aliha was leaning to watch him leave and to see if he was out of sight.

Spinning back with a really bright smile on her face, she looked to Kolby. "Soooooo… Does he have like you know, a special lady friend?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Kolby's face twitched. _'Excuse me?'_ she asked almost in disbelief.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Well… that's it for now I guess, let me know what you all think of my writing. Because I am genuinely curious, and also what you think of the idea of having multiple authors work on the same story in the manor that we are.**_

 _ **But to be honest, I don't really know how often this story will be uploaded/updated. It is new, and it's a new format then we are used to so I guess keep your fingers crossed that the time in between the chapters will be small :3**_

 _ **Also, let us know what you think of the story so far. Is it something you want to see more of? Something you want to see less of? Those kinda things.**_

 _ **Anywho, farewell for now!**_

 _ **(Crisis was here)**_


	4. Chapter 4: Carma - 2

**Hiya**! **Crisis here! Welcome back to Asmira!**

 **It's now my turn again, so are you all ready to see more of Carma and Sidious? I certainly hope so! :3**

 **For those of you that have followed or favorited this story, thank you! Seriously, we can't thank you enough! As I said, we have put a ridiculous amount of time into the planning and designing of this story. So, any support that we receive is immensely appreciated. It shows that our hard work was worth it!**

 **Now then, what are your guys'/gal's opinion of this story so far? Feel free to let us know! Even if it's being very critical, so long as it's genuinely helpful, we won't mind! One should always seek to improve herself (himself) after all!**

 **Before I forget! You'll notice in the battle (not a spoiler, you all saw it coming :3) that the moves used are a little different. They have the same names but their affects have been… altered :3. Essentially, it just makes the story flow a little better. You've been warned! Please don't rage at me or us! We also don't have a limit to the number of moves used in a battle either, meaning instead of four moves, we can have many :3**

 **Also, I believe Nexus touched base on this, but the 'Φ' symbol is what we're using to signify currency. It's official name is the Dyne. We debated on it being called the Asmiric Dollar, but… nah. It's weighted similar to the Euro, though not exactly. The conversion ratio, as measured to Poke (normal Pokemon tender) is 1,000 Poke to 7Φ (Roughly 142.86 Poke to 1Φ). I believe that the Poke unit is based off of the Japanese Yen. The conversion for the Euro to Yen is .0075 Euros to 1 Yen. Or, 1 Euro to 132.66 Yen. Lesson over!**

 **Nothing else to make mention of at this point in time, so let's get into it, shall we? Enjoy!**

* * *

 **[Carma]**

A crowd can be a funny thing sometimes. Some crowds make you feel very self-conscious, some make no difference at all to you. Yet still, there are some that make you just feel that determination, that raw feeling of pride flow through your body, where you know that all of their eyes will be on you, watching your every move and expecting your very best.

And depending on how you mentally deal with a crowd, it can make or break you. If you feel self-conscious, you won't be able to perform your best. If you ignore the crowd, you still have the opportunity to perform very well, but afterwards, you'll be feeling like you could have done better.

Now, if the crowd is one that lifts your spirits and makes you want to exceed any and all expectations, it can work two ways. If you let yourself get carried away with the emotion running through the room, you can become arrogant, or cocky. This will make it easier for you to slip up, or make mistakes. That is not something that is wanted or needed.

The other way, the better way, works almost in the exact opposite to the previous. If you take that energy, that excitement, that determination, but don't get swept away… well, then you'll be at your peak potential. You'll feel that desire to show them what you're truly capable of, and will deliver that to them as such.

Carma wasn't exactly used to crowds. In all actuality, this was the largest grouping of people that have ever watched her at once. While she wasn't _afraid_ of crowds, and usually enjoyed whatever attention was being given to her, she couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by their sheer number. She didn't freeze up, but she did pause for a moment to take it all in.

 _I can't make any mistakes here. I need to win this,_ she thought. She grinned faintly, feeling her fighting spirit surge inside of her. _And win it I will._

"This will be a one on one battle, as the challenger only has one pokemon," she heard the announcer say, cutting through her thoughts and the noise of the crowd as well. "Trainers! Please send your pokemon of choice onto the field!"

 _This is it!_

"Let's go Sidious!" Carma shouted, raising her right arm to point onto the field. The already noisy crowd went louder still, screaming in excitement as the black haxorus took the field with a nod back at his trainer. She nodded back, grinning fiercely.

She raised her gaze to where her fa- no… her opponent, was standing, wondering which of his six pokemon he'd choose. He met her gaze with a neutral expression, and calmly reached down to his trainer's belt. He removed the second pokeball of the six, and enlarged it.

 _Sandslash,_ she thought. But not a regular one. This was an Ice Type gym after all.

"You're up Sandslash!" her father cried, releasing the pokemon. A red flash briefly lit up the area, only to fade away and reveal an Alolan sandslash.

 _Steel and Ice Type… well, Dragon type moves are off the table. Well chosen, father. But typing's aren't everything. We hold the advantage in height, weight and speed. Let's just hope he doesn't land too many hits._

"Quiet in the stands, and let's begin the match! Haxorus versus Sandslash!" the announcer again cut through her thoughts. The crowd quieted to a dull roar, quiet enough so that the pokemon on the field could hear their trainers, though only just.

"Three!" Both pokemon on the field lowered themselves into a ready stance.

"Two!" Sidious shook his head and rolled his shoulders before settling again.

"One…" The two pokemon tensed, as did their trainers.

"Fight!"

Carma wasted no time in giving her pokemon instructions. "Swords Dance, let's go!" she shouted.

"Safe Guard!" came her opponent's command at the same time.

Sidious growled low as his body glowed a light blue. Carma could see his muscles thicken ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable if you didn't know what to look for. She knew that he'd hit much harder now. All they had to do was avoid getting hit and get in close. Then maintain that distance.

 _Easy, right?_

"Alright Sidious, let's start the real dance! Earthquake!"

 **[Sidious]**

"Earthquake!"

 _Dance we shall,_ Sidious thought, growling fiercely. His opponent was much smaller than him, about half his height and a good hundred pounds lighter. He could also tell that he had a lot more muscle to him than his opponent, but it wouldn't do to get cocky. Dan was no fool, he wouldn't have a pokemon that was unable to stand up to larger opponents.

He felt his muscles tense as his physical energy flowed through him. Roaring a challenge, he raised his leg and stomped on the ground as hard as he could, the built-up energy leaving as he did so, transferring itself into the ground. Immediately the ground began to shake violently, throwing the sandslash around.

He was actually rather proud of the strength behind the 'earthquake'. If the arena wasn't designed to move separately from the Gym itself, he was confident that he would have caused some serious damage.

"Now get in close! Bulldoze!" he heard Carma shout. With the ground still shaking furiously under his feet, he lowered his head and charged the unsteady sandslash, shifting his own weight around as he ran to maintain his balance.

This particular strategy was something that he and Carma had practiced extensively with. Most pokemon would be unable to move with the ground shaking as much as it currently was, rendering them unable to attack or defend while they waited for things to settle. Not so with Sidious, who used the distraction of the shaking earth to charge the opponent in relative safely.

Of course, he did have to be careful as he ran. It would be rather embarrassing if he were to fall on his face while attempting a challenging attack. But years of practice made him very sure footed.

The ground settled, but before the sandslash could recover fully, Sidious was on him. He roared as his head made contact with the Ice and Steel type, abruptly sending the smaller pokemon flying through the air and, hopefully, into something hard.

He raised his head in time to see his opponent impact the ground an impressive distance away, though not quite as far as Sidious had hoped.

"Don't give them time to recover! Bulldoze!" Carma cried. Sidious complied, moving much faster now that the ground was stable.

"Protect!" Dan shouted, and about a foot before he contacted with the sandslash, who was getting to his feet still, Sidious felt himself impact an invisible barrier, which redirected his attack and sent him tumbling onto the ground, leaving the sandslash uninjured.

"Now, Metal Claw!" called the Gym Leader.

"On your feet! Dodge it!"

Sidious got to his feet as quickly as he could, but he wasn't quite fast enough. Pain lanced through his shoulder as the sandslash's now glowing claws cut into it. He roared, and then leapt away from his opponent.

Luckily for him, he was naturally armored. _Still hurts,_ he thought angrily. He ignored the pain and readied himself again.

"Ice Ball!" Dan yelled.

Sidious watched as the sandslash generated a thick ball of ice in front of its maw. _This could be bad,_ he thought.

"Dodge if you can, but get in close! Slash!"

He understood what she meant. _If you have to take the hit, fine. But deal as much damage as you can in the process._

Again he charged, angling his head so that he could use the blades he was blessed with as a pokemon. His opponent fired, sending the ice towards him at an absurd speed. Using his reflexes, he leapt to the side. He couldn't avoid it entirely, but instead of hitting him dead on, it just glanced off his side. Sidious roared in pain, but he closed the gap between them all the same.

He slammed the side of his face, and his left blade, onto the back of the Ice pokemon, breaking off multiple ice spikes and slamming the pokemon down in the process. He dimly felt one of the spikes pierce his neck slightly, but it wasn't enough to break the skin.

Then he was past it, breathing hard. The Alolan sandslash was getting to its feet, looking tired. _This match won't last much longer,_ he thought.

"Again! Slash!" Carma shouted.

"Take the hit! Icicle Spear!" Dan ordered.

Sidious roared and charged again, even as the sandslash coated its claws in ice, and braced itself.

This time he aimed low, swiping his blades down its side, causing it to cry out in pain. Then Sidious himself was in pain, feeling his opponent's claws pierce his thick hide again and again. Then they split apart, both bleeding.

"Again, Icicle Spear!"

"Endure it! Reversal!"

Sidious braced himself, sending energy coursing through his body as he readied himself to take whatever may come. Then the sandslash was upon him, stabbing him again and again. Each time it struck, he felt as though he might faint. But he didn't. He endured.

Before it could leap away again, Sidious used all the energy he could summon in his body, and hit the sandslash's side as hard as he could, driving all the energy into its body, and sending the pokemon flying, this time into the concrete wall that protected the stands, halting its progress immediately and cracking the concrete, sending pieces of ice and rock everywhere. Then it hit the ground and the crowd went eerily silent.

Sidious stood, panting and feeling more worn out than he ever had before, and waited for the sandslash to rise again.

But it remained still, barely breathing. It was over. He raised his head and roared as loud as he could in victory, and the crowd roared right back at him in delight, all standing in one single motion and cheering.

"Sandslash is unable to battle. The round goes to Haxorus! The Gym Leader cannot use any more pokemon! The challenger wins!" the announcer suddenly boomed through the audience. The crowd immediately redoubled their cheering, applauding the efforts of the only pokemon standing in the arena and the one who instructed him.

 _I did it._

Sidious lowered his head, his vision flickering between darkness and light. He fell to his knees and began to fall forward, only to feel himself caught by gentle arms. He raised his gaze to look at his trainer, who had run onto the field as soon as they were declared the victors. Carma smiled at him, her eyes full of pride and sheer happiness. He smiled back, knowing she was proud of him.

"Well done," she whispered to him, before he felt himself being sucked into the warm comfort of a pokeball as his surroundings faded into darkness, still hearing the cheers and congratulations of the crowd.

 **[Carma]**

She stood there, looking down at the pokeball that contained her best friend, and smiled brighter than she had in a long time, immense pride welling up inside of her. _Very well done,_ she thought to herself.

She raised her gaze to the crowd, who were all still on their feet and applauding, and raised Sidious' pokeball into the air. The cheering only seemed to intensify. She turned her head to look at the large screen that showed a close-up of the action for those who were sitting in the higher rows. She saw her standing there, holding up a grey pokeball. Underneath that, however, was what she was looking for. The timer for the match, now paused.

It read two minutes and twenty-six seconds.

 _Two and a half minutes, but it felt like two and a half hours,_ she thought to herself. She lowered her hand, and clipped the pokeball she was holding onto her belt. She then turned towards her father, who was standing where Sandslash had fallen. The pokemon was no longer there, but her father was looking down at a seemingly ordinary pokeball that he was holding in his hands. He looked… troubled, and a little sad as well.

She walked up to him slowly, smiling faintly. His gaze lifted as she neared, and smiled at her sadly. Then he sighed, and clipped the pokeball back into its original slot.

"Well, it seems that I lost," he told her, still smiling. She thought she saw a little pride in his eyes. "Who would have guessed that you'd beat your father so soon into the circuit?"

She shrugged, and then held out her hand for him to shake. He shook his head and chuckled, before reaching his own hand forward and shaking hers. Before he could pull it away, Carma suddenly used the handshake to pull him into a hug. He immediately wrapped his arms around her as well, resting his chin on top of her head.

"I'm proud of you Cary," he told her. She just hugged him all the tighter. Then they pulled away from each other. "Do you still want to join the Guardians?" he asked her quietly. She nodded. He sighed, and then smiled at her. "I expected that answer." She nodded again.

"So… I believe you have something for me?" she questioned him, grinning cheekily. He laughed, nodded, and then reached into his pocket to pull out a small badge, and held it out to her. She took a second to just gaze at it, hearing the crowd, who had slowly begun to stop clapping, suddenly start back up again. _Their poor hands,_ she thought, even as she reached out to take the badge from her father.

It was a simple, ice blue circle with an ice shard running through it diagonally. In the center sat a black pokeball, inlaid with a sapphire. She thought she'd never seen anything quite so pretty, as she slowly pinned it to the shoulder strap of her backpack.

She turned back to the cheering crowd and bowed. Then her father gestured with his hand for her to follow him as he headed towards the Gym Leader's Quarters, which were beyond an elegant door past his podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next match will take place in two hours. The gym will take this opportunity to clean the arena, as well as the stands. If you could help out by cleaning the area around you of your trash…," the announcer said, before the doors closed behind her and they were out of range to hear him. Carma let out a sigh of relief.

"Wow, that was noisy. Why were so many people here?" she asked her father.

He glanced at her with a faint grin. "It's not every day that a Gym Leader faces their children. Each time they do, however, the match always proves to be exciting for one reason or another," he replied. She giggled softly.

"Well, it may have been short, but that match was very exciting. At least from my perspective," she told him.

He nodded. "Short, sure. But that's only because we each had one pokemon to use. Most battles take half that time, though the match itself obviously takes longer," he said.

They walked in silence as they passed through the empty hall leading to the Leader's room. When they reached a rather plain looking door, her father courteously opened it for her, gesturing for her to enter. She thanked him, and walked inside.

There she was met with the sight of an elderly looking man and a younger one, both dressed in some sort of uniform and standing with their legs spread and their hands behind their backs. She turned and raised an eyebrow at the leader.

He just simply smiled, and, ignoring the two men in the room, walked over to his personal pokemon healer, and placed Sandslash's pokeball in it, before signaling for her to do the same. She walked over, unclipping Sidious' pokeball as she did so, and placed it in the slot next to her father's. Then he hit a button, and the machine whirred to life, with a lid closing over the two pokeballs.

He then turned around and walked over to a table, which was surrounded by six comfortable looking chairs. "As you were," he told the two men as he passed them. Without a word, the two dropped their positions and made their way over to the chairs, each taking a seat, followed by Dan doing the same. He turned and smiled at Carma, and signaled for her to take a seat.

"This is Captain Williams, and Lieutenant Adler," he introduced as she took her seat next to him. "They're both ex-Core, now part of Asmira's Guardians."

Her interest immediately rose, and she appraised them both with a studied eye. "Ex-Core you say?" she asked.

They both nodded at her, though they remained silent. She frowned. "How recent?"

The younger one, Lieutenant Adler, spoke, saying, "Both of us defected after the events at Temple Pavvla."

 _Oh… were they there?_ she found herself wondering. "Were you two…," she trailed off, not trusting herself to speak. Luckily, it seemed that they understood what she was asking.

"Were we there? I personally was, but Captain Williams was not," Adler answered.

Her father quickly cut in, saying, "Before you start getting any idea's in your head, no. None of them were aware of their true purpose, nor did either of them carry out the bombings. Lieutenant Adler was there for another, personal reason, which he can tell you if he wants. It's not my business to discuss."

Her accusations immediately ceased before they had even come out. She nodded slowly. "So… why are you two here now, if you don't mind me asking?" she questioned.

Her father spoke again. "They are both here at my behest to officially induct you into the Guardian's."

 _Oh._

He continued. "Captain Williams oversees most of the inclusion process, and Lieutenant Adler is responsible for our troops in Greyton's vicinity. If you have any questions for either of them, feel free to ask, but questions about personal lives are strictly off the table. You can discuss that on your own time, if they so choose."

She nodded again. "How long were you a part of the Core?" she asked.

For the first time, the Captain spoke. "I was a member for thirty-two years, and Lieutenant Adler for six," he told her. She blinked.

"Thirty-two years is a long time…," she said softly. He nodded gravely. Then he suddenly grinned, melting whatever tension there was in the room.

"And forty-nine even longer!" he laughed. Dan laughed openly, and the Lieutenant chuckled. "Sorry boss, I can't stand all of this formality. Information flows easier in a relaxed environment," the Captain said to Dan. Her father just dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"It's fine, Dave. I agree completely in any case. Now then, onto business. You both watched the battle, correct?" Dan asked. They nodded, completely relaxed now. Carma found herself wondering at the complete 360 in the atmosphere. One minute they were as serious as death, the next they're smiles and sunshine. Weird.

"So, what are your two professional opinions on the matter?" her father asked.

The Captain, Dave apparently, glanced at her with a smile. "She's gifted. Very gifted. I don't see any reason to doubt her abilities. She's a little green, but that'll wear off soon enough. Arceus knows we need soldiers with actual heads on their shoulders," he answered.

The Lieutenant nodded in agreement. "I agree, I think that she'll make a fine addition. At least on the part that involves pokemon. How is she with a gun in her hands and a ruck on her back?" he questioned.

Without skipping a beat, her father answered. "You know that stantler that's stuffed and posed at full sprint at the city hall?" he asked. The Lieutenant nodded. "Well, she shot that when it was actually sprinting, through trees, at three-hundred meters. One shot. She was fifteen at the time."

They both turned and looked at her, clearly impressed. The Captain whistled slowly, and then turned to look at the Lieutenant. "Scout?" he asked.

The younger man nodded. "Scout," he agreed. "So long she's not just a 'one-shot wonder', so to speak."

Carma felt her temper flare up. "If you really want to know how well I can shoot, come with me to the firing range someday. 100Φ says that I can beat you any day," she shot back. He frowned at her. He seemed like he was about to say something, but then apparently thought better of it as his frown turned into a smile.

"I bet you could at that. Very well, I'm assuming it was a bolt action rifle, right?" he asked. She nodded. He smiled again, and continued. "So how good are you with a handgun then?"

Her temper immediately faded, to be replaced with slight bashfulness. "Uh… well, let's just say I'm not as good with those. I can hit the target! But… it might take me a couple tries," she admitted. He looked to be deep in thought. Then he nodded.

"Well, I would recommend that you practice with those then. A Scout needs to be able to survive in any situation. A bolt action rifle isn't going to be nearly as effective at closer ranges, and adding another heavy weapon on top of a rifle isn't the best for mobility. No, you need to be able to use a handgun competently," he told her. He turned his attention back to Dan. "Well Sir, provided that she gets some hands-on time with a pistol, I have no complaints. Does she need a chip?" he asked him.

Her father coughed, and then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, looking like he was about to get chastised. "Well… she already has one actually," he admitted. Carma looked at him in confusion.

Then her eyes shot wide open as her hand clasped onto the back of her neck. "You didn't," she stated, asking but not asking at the same time. He coughed uncomfortably.

"Well… you see, I was worried that, should you have lost the gym battle, you would have run off on your own. It's what I would have done… so, I took a few precautious measures," he answered. He turned to the Captain. "She doesn't have the full set, only a partial. She still needs the one in her hand, which I actually have here. Just in case, you see," he told him.

The Captain shook his head, chuckling. "You keep doing things like that, you'll drive her away," he told him. He glanced at Carma, who was looking confused, as well as slightly betrayed. "A Guardian typically has two implants, one to connect them with their pokemon and allow us to track them, usually located at the base of the neck. The other is implanted in their hand. This allows us to register individual weapons to you, so that, on the off chance that it happens, if you lose a weapon in a scuffle, it can't be used against you or anyone else. It'll only remain able to fire if your hand holds it. The chip in the hand also allows you access to certain places, such as Guardian safehouses. There are also some that it will not let you open, unless your clearance level is high enough. It can also take the place of your trainer card, a 'hands-free' method, if you'll forgive the oxymoron. It's actually very useful, all things considered."

She blinked at the sudden information. Then she frowned. "I don't believe that I have a trainer card," she said thoughtfully. The Captain smiled.

"In this particular gym, it wasn't really necessary. Your father just entered your information manually, prior to the battle. Any other gym, however, you need a trainer card to enter it. The chip in your hand would work the same way, without the extra baggage. Normally you'd have to place your card onto a scanner, but, with this method, you can just place your hand on it," he informed her.

"I do have a chip for you, already set with all of your information, just so you're aware. I didn't give it to you earlier, because this technology is a little… delicate. If you did run off had you lost, it could have proved disastrous if you fell into the wrong hands. With the Guardian's backing, however…," her father spoke, before trailing off. He looked at the other two men meaningfully. They both shared a look, and then nodded.

"Welcome aboard! Before you officially become a member, there are two things you need to do. One, you need to take an oath to essentially be loyal to the Guardians. Two, you need to take the oath for the Scouts," Dan told her. Carma blinked again.

"So… what exactly does a Scout do?" she asked.

Lieutenant Adler answered her. "A Scout has many roles. Primarily, recon. Essentially, you're the eyes and ears of the main group. This can include undercover operations, long stakeouts, and anything in between. Secondary, provide long range support for main body troops. This will be a normal mission etc. Thirdly, and potentially most important, take out individuals or high value targets discreetly and efficiently. However, as a Scout, you must be able to move quickly at the first sign of trouble or when you receive an order from a superior. It's a job that requires twenty-four seven availability," he said, before hesitating.

"It's one of the harder jobs, but… it's also one of our most prestigious. You work your ass off, but you get a lot of respect, in other words," her father told her. He smiled faintly at her. "Now, don't expect to be getting lots of 'special' requests, you're still only a beginner. The more badges you get, the more doors open up, literally and figuratively. As a 'Oner', you will mostly be given small jobs, such as recon. Rarely will you be put into a combat situation. Two badges, and you'll be moved up to the 'Capable' level, which is where you'll go on low risk mission. Three, medium low. Four, medium. Five, medium high. Six… high risk mission. Seven, severe risk. And eight… you'll be going on all missions, including the ones with the least chances of success."

Carma frowned. "How exactly do you know how risky a mission will be?"

Dan's face fell. "We go by projected intensity. That means some will be riskier, others will be less so. It's… not a foolproof gauge by any means. I should also mention that, provided you perform well, you can get some privileges sooner. And by privileges, I mean riskier missions. Even if you don't technically have the correct number of badges."

She went silent, taking all of that information in. Then a thought occurred to her. "Why do you go by the number of badges, as opposed to years?" she asked.

The Captain answered this one. "Because, as a rule, a Guardian performing the Gym Circuit cannot use motorized vehicles to get to gyms, barring crossing the ocean. You must use your own strength and endurance. By the time you receive all eight badges, it'll likely have been two years or so from when you began. Along the way, you will be issued missions as well. That means you'll have a lot more experience by the time you get your next badge. Transport for missions will almost always be provided for you, though there will always be exceptions. At the very least, you can expect to get supply drops from time to time. The Guardians look after their own," he told her.

She nodded in understanding, and then took a shaky breath. Then she smiled, determination rising in her again. "Well, let's get this show on the road then!" she exclaimed. The three men in the room smiled at her, and then nodded to eachother.

Her father rose to his feet. "If you would come with me," he said, offering a hand. She took it, and he gently helped her to her feet. Then he led the way, first to the pokemon healer, where he took out his pokemon and clipped it to his belt. She did the same with hers. When she turned around, the two officers were on their feet and were making their way to a door at the back of the room. Her father followed them, as did she.

They led the way through the door, and down a hall, and then through a set of double doors and then finally through another door, which was studiously blank, bearing to decorations of any sort, not even a handle. Captain Williams calmly placed his right hand on a small, black pad, located on the wall next to the door. Lieutenant Adler did likewise to a similar pad to the left of the door, only he used his left hand. There a quiet, mechanical sound, and suddenly the door slid to the left. Dan went through, with Carma following only after the Lieutenant had given her an encouraging grin.

Inside, the room was very plain, having a single podium located at the front of the room, a row of books on individual stands located on the opposite wall from the entrance, and two flags located at the back, hanging from two mounts posted on either wall, resulting in the flags being displayed perfectly, with the black wall behind them as a backdrop. One flag she recognized as Greyton's flag, bearing her family crest of a grey, fern enshrouded moon. Her ancestors founded the city after all. The other, she did not recognize.

It was a deep, royal shade of purple, bearing the image of a black shield overlaying a silver sword running through it diagonally. Three words were sewn onto the flag in white. Above the shield was the word 'Honor'. On the shield was the word 'Duty'. Below the shield was the word 'Sacrifice'.

"That's the Asmira's Guardians representing flag," Lieutenant Adler told her quietly, apparently having noticed her staring curiously. She nodded to show that she understood, and turned to look at her father, who was now standing behind the podium. He gestured for her to stand on a single black tile located in the center of the room. The rest was all carpet. As she took her place, she heard the two officers take a stand somewhere behind her.

"Attention!" Dan suddenly demanded. She heard the clicking of heels behind her, as she herself stood up straight, with her hands at her sides and her heels together, and her eyes focusing on her father's face. It was stern at the moment, and intense. "Raise your dominant hand," he ordered her. She obeyed, raising her right hand. "Now, repeat after me, replacing 'Do you' with 'I', 'Your' with 'My' and so forth as you do so." She didn't give any signs that she heard him.

"Do you, Carma Grey, vow to honor and uphold the traditions and duties of the Guardians of Asmira?" he asked.

"I, Carma Grey, vow to honor and uphold the traditions and duties of the Guardians of Asmira."

"Do you swear to serve and protect the people of Asmira, even at the cost of your own life?"

"I swear to serve and protect the people of Asmira, even at the cost of my own life."

"Do you vow to always put the greater good above yourself?"

"I vow to always put the greater good above myself."

"Do you swear to never let any emotions cloud your judgement?"

"I swear to never let any emotions cloud my judgement."

"And do you vow to defend Asmira from any threat, both foreign and domestic?"

"I vow to defend Asmira from any threat, both foreign and domestic."

"May Arceus strike you down should you break these oaths."

"May Arceus strike me down should I break these oaths."

"Honor, Duty, Sacrifice."

"Honor, Duty, Sacrifice."

Her father nodded. "Now kneel on one knee."

Keeping her hand in the air, Carma slowly dropped down onto one knee. He nodded in approval. "Move your dominant hand so that it's in front of you, palm facing up." She did as he commanded.

He gestured to one of the officers behind her. Then she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. She listened to them intently, until Captain Williams appeared in the corner of her vision. He was holding what looked like a syringe gun, similar to the one that put the implant in the back of her neck, although this one looked slightly larger.

He gently took her wrist in his hand, and placed the sharp point of the device against her palm. He pulled the trigger, and she heard the sound of compressed air being released briefly fill the room, even as she felt a sharp pain in her hand. Then he removed the injector, and went back to where he stood before. Her hand throbbed slightly.

"Rise now, Carma Grey, as a Guardian of Asmira," her commander ordered. She obeyed, dropping her hand to her side as she did so. He smiled at her.

She heard clapping behind her suddenly, and smiled herself. This was the second time she had been applauded today. Her father smartly stepped back from the podium, and then quietly walked down the steps toward her. He smiled at her, seemingly a little sad. "If I'm honest, I'd hoped that being a trainer was enough for you. But, if you must fight, I'd rather you join the Guardians than the rebels," he told her quietly. She nodded once, smiling softly. He sighed, and then looked behind her. "Lieutenant, she's all yours," he said.

The Lieutenant didn't waste any time as she turned around to face him. "Now then, you've sworn loyalty to the Guardians. Next, you swear to the Scouts. I personally was a scout for a time, so I'll be the one inducting you into our branch," he told her. Her eyes widened slightly again. _He was a Scout? Whoops! I bet I could still outshoot him though,_ she thought. Then she nodded to show that she understood. He smiled softly.

"Don't worry, this one is shorter, though it is slightly more… intense, for lack of a better word," he said, walking over to the line of books that she had noticed when she first entered. He paused at the thinnest one, which was still a good thousand pages thick. He gestured for her to move closer, as he opened the book.

As she approached, she noticed that the pages contained a short passage, and then a blank space underneath it. As the Lieutenant skimmed through it, she noticed that there was a bloody thumbprint located in each blank space. _Oh. Blood oath,_ she thought. Finally, the Lieutenant found a page without a thumbprint. She stepped closer.

"Now, put your dominant thumb on this little groove in the wall. You'll feel a pinch, but it won't be bad. And don't worry, the spikes are replaced after each use. Once you're done, place the thumb in the center of the blank spot, and recite the words while holding your thumb onto the page. Obviously replace the 'your name' with your name. Understand?" he instructed. Carma nodded. He smiled, and then stepped back as she took his place.

She put her right thumb on the groove, apologizing silently to her poor, mistreated, right hand. She heard a soft sound, and then felt a slight pinch on her thumb. She grimaced slightly. Then she placed her thumb on the blank spot, and began to recite the words printed on it.

"I, Carma Grey, vow that I will uphold the Scout's creed. I vow that I will do whatever it takes to complete my mission. I vow that I will never surrender, no matter the odds. I vow that I will be the best that I can be and more. I vow that I will never accept defeat. I vow that I will remain diligent and steadfast in my duties. I vow that I will never leave a fallen comrade. I vow that I will remain observant till the end of my days. I vow that I will always obey my superiors. I swear this on the blood coursing through my veins and the life flowing through me. Honor, Duty, Sacrifice."

After she had taken her oath, she slowly removed her thumb from the brown pages. Left on the page was a near perfect thumbprint, almost exactly like ones on the pages before it. She looked at the Lieutenant, who nodded his approval at her actions. Then he produced what looked like a badge in his hands, and solemnly handed it to her. She accepted it, and studied it intently.

It was a rifle intersecting with a sword, forming a shallow 'x', set over what looked to a spyglass. As she stared at it, she noticed that it looked slightly worn, and glanced at the Lieutenant again. She noticed that there was a blank spot on his chest, between multiple other badges. It looked distinctly prominent, as though something had been there before.

He followed her gaze to his chest, and then laughed slightly. "I didn't know that you'd become a Scout today, so the only badge I had for them was my own. Wear it with pride, sister. It's been through many a skirmish," he told her, smiling at her now.

For once, Carma didn't know what to say. She dumbly nodded, and looked down at the badge. Then she pinned it to her shirt, in near the same place it sat on him. He nodded approvingly once more. Then he grinned at her again.

"Welcome to the Guardians, Carma, and welcome to the Scouts."

* * *

 **So… I may have gotten this done sooner than was anticipated. Oh well, that just means we aren't waiting on me!**

 **What did you all think? Was the battle good? Any advice for improving them in the future?**

 **And what did you think of the two Officers?**

 **Well, there's nothing left for me to say really. I hope you all enjoyed! Now we just need to wait for the lazy people to finish their chapters. HURRY UP ALTUS AND NEXUS!**

 **Some people, I swear :3.**

 **Crisis out! :3**


	5. Chapter 5: Aeric - 2

**Hey all, Altus here with my second installment in our Asmira series. An obvious thank you to Crisis for covering my A/N last chapter. (Not really, I ain't failing like THAT again.)**

 **Anyways, on with the story!**

 **-!-**

"When do we land, master?" Asked Deliah, for the fourth time in what seemed to him was hours. Aeric said nothing in return, just sighing and laying his head back against the metal shell of the plane behind him. He wouldn't get mad at her. He never has. But Deliah, for all her wonderful quirks, could be rather impatient at times, and it annoyed him to no end.

"I already told you Deliah. We're more than likely already there. They must be clearing ice off the runway so we can land. I offered to let you pass the time in your ball."

"You know I can't stand that thing", she responded, floating back as he pulled her ball out. He didn't really understand why she didn't like it. It was a luxury ball, one of the best balls to have, and also one of the most expensive. He could afford it easily though. He had inherited a good bit of money from his father, so luxury balls, though it cost him what he could get this month, weren't exactly a luxury.

His brother, kind though he could be at times, did not really approve.

"Why don't you just adopt some pokemon? They already have balls, and it would have been cheaper than that." He had told him. Aeric still remembered the conversation they had had about two hours before Aeric left. "Because I want them to be comfortable if they remain in their balls.", he had argued back.

"So, what? Do you actually intend to complete the gym circuit?" asked Richard, his voice unbelieving. Aeric had sighed at that. "I don't have that much of an interest in battling yes. But that may be because I've never actually gotten to try it myself! Besides, Father asked it of me. You know I'm going to try it regardless now!"

Aeric was jolted out of his thoughts as the plane shifted beneath them, bouncing. Deliah was already near the back hatch, and it occurred to Aeric that they must be on the ground. He stood up, approaching the back hatch as well, just as the plane rolled to a complete stop. "So." he asked, a grin stretching its way across his face again. "After we get settled on base, what's the first thing we're going to do?"

"We're going to the Binding Festival, obviously." she said, giggling. The Froslass was rocking back and forth in the air, obviously still a little impatient. She would have to wait a little longer though, because it was a good five minutes before the back hatch finally opened. When it finally did, she rushed out, with Aeric close behind her.

Deliah spun in a circle, laughing happily. For once, she was somewhere comfortable for her, as to her, the air had a slight " _Ting"_ of a breeze to it. Poor Aeric however, felt very different. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself for warmth, already beginning to shake. He definitely wasn't used to such cold temperatures, and it was showing. But, to him, Deliah seemed happy, and that was what mattered.

The two were greeted by two soldiers, and instantly, Aeric stopped rubbing his arms and saluted. He recognized the Twin silver bars of the captain, and the sole silver bar of the first lieutenant at his side.

"At ease, Gunnery Sergeant White. I'm Captain Pierce, and this is Lieutenant Mann. We pretty much run things here."

Aeric had relaxed at the "At ease," though he remained straight, his respect for his superiors kicking in. Deliah, though more relaxed, remained silent, waiting for something to happen. "Respectfully Sir, where is here?" asked Aeric, his eyes flicking around slightly. The festival itself he had heard so much about from Deliah on the plane ride up there was nowhere in sight, so it drove Aeric to question.

"Simple enough, I suppose." came Pierce's response. "We're about five miles outside of Kara's Vale. During the Binding, the whole town is neutral, barring inspections by both Rebels and Core. So, we built our base about five miles outside of town, so we don't have to shut everything down during the festival."

"Makes sense. Wait, did you say the rebels do inspections?" That honestly surprised Aeric.

"That they do. We can't exactly stop them, so it's tolerated. For the time being. Now, I have things to take care of, so I'll leave you to Lieutenant Mann. He'll show you and Deliah to the Barracks." With that, he turned, beginning to walk away. But he stopped briefly, turning and looking at both Deliah and Aeric in turn. "One more thing. Your Froslass must remain in her ball after 2200 hours. Trainer relationships with pokemon may be accepted, but that doesn't mean I'll allow them, or any other relationships, on base. You can wait until liberty, at which point we'll be giving rides to the festival for all who wish to attend."

Both Aeric and Deliah blushed, saying nothing as he turned, walking away for good this time. Lieutenant Mann let out a short cough, and their gaze turned to him, looking over his uniform once again. He wasn't wearing the padding and vest, so the most that was on him was the blue shirt that marked him as a Core soldier, the white cargo pants that came with it, and a pair of running shoes, though Aeric chalked the latter up to privilege. It seemed that he was used to the cold, because he wasn't letting out so much as a shiver.

"If you'll follow me." he said simply, turning around and heading across the airfield, leaving a bewildered Aeric and Deliah just standing there for a moment, before quickly moving to follow him. Aeric ran a little ahead of Deliah, aiming to keep pace with Lieutenant Mann, but stopped when he let out, "Don't."

"Don't? Don't what?"

"Try and get to know me. I couldn't care less for what you have to say. I don't want to get to know you, and you don't get to know more about me."

"...Could you at least tell me your first name?"

"Why would I do that?" That stopped Aeric. He hadn't really ever known someone so… stubbornly reclusive. Much less someone who didn't even bother to tell others his own name.

"Sorry sir."

"Don't apologize if you don't mean it. I know you probably think I'm a bit of an ass, but I have my reasons." That much was probably true, mused Aeric. Who knows what he's seen out here?

Lost in his own thoughts, he didn't stop and walked directly into Lieutenant Mann's back, not realizing that he had stopped in front of what Aeric assumed to be the barracks. He took a step back quickly when he let out a brief snarl, but for the most part, he ignored Aeric's mistake, opening the door and gesturing for Aeric to follow him in. Aeric obeyed, stepping inside and looking around.

It was a squat building, much longer than it was tall. The metal roofing hung low, barely allowing for the double-stacked beds to fit in the room standing up. Aeric honestly felt bad for whoever had to sleep in the top bunks, because he could already feel a cool breeze from outside blowing in. In his opinion, the barracks were very poorly constructed, though he wasn't going to complain. He was finally here.

"You'll be sleeping here," said the Lieutenant, dropping the chart in his hands onto the third bunk. "Make yourself comfortable, and get something to eat. You leave on routine inspections in one hour."

An hour? He just got here. Though, he supposed it could not be helped. He hadn't spotted anyone on the walk over, so he assumed that either everyone had snuck off to the binding, or they were seriously spread thin.

"Yes sir. Permission to speak freely?" Aeric asked.

"Denied. Chow is three buildings down on the left, just past the infirmary. Meet me when you're finished at the base of the comm tower." He turned around at that, walking out and headed towards Arceus knows where. Aeric sighed as the door to the barracks shut behind him, falling onto the bed. He looked over to Deliah, who stood there smiling widely. Aeric knew she didn't really care for Mann's attitude either, but she wouldn't say anything, happy for Aeric. True, for the next couple of weeks, she wouldn't be living the life of comfort she had been back at Nara, but she was a Pokemon. She would survive.

Aeric rolled in his spot on the bed, coming to the foot where a small locker for his stuff sat, little though he had. On a whim, he used his foot and wedged it open, surprised that there was already three changes of clothes, all different forms of his uniform, inside. He reached in and set the three on his bed in front of him. One, which he assumed he was meant to wear under the other two, was just a simple white t-shirt and long pants, though the pants were designed to match the rest of the uniform.

With a gasp, Aeric spied a box marked "Armor" that had been hidden under the clothing and, instantly forgetting said clothing, he lifted it out. It was surprisingly light in his arms, and he plopped it onto the bed with ease.

Deliah peered over his shoulder at the box, giggling at Aeric's childish enthusiasm. "Well?" she said, "Open it!"

He did just that, immediately reaching in and pulling out the helmet and padding within. Dropping the padding on top of the clothes, he turned the helmet to face him, taking in its angular surfaces. He could see his eyes in its chrome blue visor, and his initials burned into the cloth covered metal above it. To many, the helmet would have seemed generic, plain even. But to Aeric, it meant so much more. It meant his dreams were finally being achieved.

He slipped the helmet on, and turned to face Deliah, smiling though she couldn't see it. "Well? How do I look?"

Deliah looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you want my honest opinion? Or the less hurtful one?"

"Your honest opinion. Honesty isn't always the best policy, but I'd prefer it here."

"You look childish. The helmet looks oversized on you."

"Ouch!" he said with a laugh. "Well, in my defence, I'm not wearing the padding. It looks better with that on."

She did what Aeric assumed to be a shrug, and asked, "Well, are you going to put it on?" He shook his head no, pulling the helmet off and grabbing the padding. "Can't, I don't have the time." He pointed to a clock on the wall next to someone's bed, showing that fifteen minutes had passed already, and that he needed to get to the mess hall. He noted the gun that lay inside as well, but did not pull it out. It more than likely wasn't smart to have weapons out on base, unless they were under attack.

With that, he stood up, peeling off his shirt so he could change at least his top quickly. Deliah blushed, but turned away rather than stare, trying not to look back at her master as he pulled on a thicker shirt from one of the sets of clothing. Aeric, looking back at her, couldn't help but chuckle at her embarrassment. "Better get used to it, Deliah. We're not exactly going to have privacy like back at home."

"I know that master." she said simply, still not looking at him.

He shrugged. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat. Maybe the food won't be so bad."

-!-

The food was terrible. Aeric nearly hacked it up, and the few people that were in the mess hall, mostly the cooks, laughed their asses off at him. He had some fun though. While normally nobody could handle them, Aeric took great pride in his ability to consume spicy pokepuffs, at which point he won 20Φ from the chef who made them. Deliah made a new friend, a young snorunt owned by one of the other Core soldiers and, luckily for her, the duo was more friendly than Lieutenant Mann had been.

Not long after they left the cafeteria, Aeric was back at the barracks, putting on the padding with some help from Deliah. The padding, while extremely light, was able to stop most lower caliber rounds from penetrating, and causing a fair bit of the bigger ones to become survivable.

The padding itself, basically his body armor, was light but could stop most rounds for one reason. It was made of fibers formed from the feathers of a interlocking fibers, light because of their origins, were also extremely flexible, and comfortable to wear. The biggest issue with them however, was that they conducted heat VERY easily. Opposing flamethrower units are a Core soldier's worst nightmare. Reaching in and pulling out the GTAR that lay at the very bottom, he attached it to the sling on his back, and stepping out the door.

As Aeric made his way alone towards the comm tower, for Deliah had chosen to remain behind, he couldn't help but wonder what was in store for him on the inspections. Would they encounter resistance? Rebels, maybe? And what about the mysterious Guardians? Would they show up? At that, his thoughts shifted again, focusing more on them. Not much was known about the Guardians, only that they were a separate fighting force from the rebels. More than likely smaller, but more prepared than most Core grunts, they were a force not to be crossed. Somehow, they always seemed prepared for their contacts with the Core, and they nearly always came out on top in the few battles they had had.

His thoughts were interrupted as he spied Lieutenant Mann waving at him, leaning against the side of one of two rather intimidating blue and white trucks. He waved back, speeding up to a slow jog as he made his way over.

"I see you finally decided to make your way over." proffered the lieutenant, a cold smile appearing on his face.

Biting his tongue, Aeric just nodded back, beginning to offer up an apology. But he held his tongue then too, knowing Mann wouldn't want to hear any excuses, instead turning and looking over the truck. "Are we riding in this, sir?" he asked, running a hand over its metal grille.

The Lieutenant shook his head. "I'm riding in this baby. You're riding in the other one." With that, he pointed to the smaller truck beside it. Aeric again said nothing, confused as to why they couldn't just ride in one vehicle. He actually began to voice it, but the Lieutenant shook his head. "Don't. We're just more intimidating if we look like we have more than we need. I'm assuming you can drive, yes?"

"Yes sir." replied Aeric. "Though normally, I feel more comfortable walking." In truth, he did. It may have been slower, but after walking somewhere, he had always felt better about himself. Though, here in Kara's Vale, that more than likely wasn't a plausible idea, unless he wished to walk through areas that could have snow piled as much as two feet high. Aeric moved towards the other truck, opening its side door and hopping in. "Hey." called Lieutenant Mann. Aeric turned back to him, saying "Sir?"

"You follow me, alright? Searches are usually randomized, places I think look suspicious. Just do what i do, and you'll be fine."

"Yes sir." With that, he shut the door and started the truck, starting off after Lieutenant Mann as he pulled ahead.

-!-

Aeric, opened the door, stepping out onto the lawn of their first stop. At least, he assumed it was a lawn. There was no grass to be seen anywhere, and the yard was littered various colored shoes, bicycle parts, and the occasional broken pokeball. Calmly, after slipping on his helmet, Lieutenant Mann began striding up the thin path through the piles of junk.

He had parked almost directly in front of the path, forcing Aeric to park further up in the yard, almost directly beneath the overhanging roof. Aeric nearly tripped over a pile of broken bicycle as he stepped out. Ignoring the little misstep, he fell in behind Mann just as he knocked on the door. After a moment, the door creaked open slightly, revealing the figure of a short, squat man, a light blue t-shirt stretched over his large frame.

"Can I help you gentleman?" he asked, his tone rough. It was clear, he didn't like the Core, or anyone in general. Lieutenant Mann nodded, looking past him slightly. "We're here on inspection. I'm asking you now to open up peacefully."

The man let out a huff, throwing open the door, and turning around to lumber away. Mann and Aeric stepped inside, Aeric calmly shutting the door behind him. They each took one step farther, when suddenly, a loud crashing sound came from further down the hall, up a small staircase.

The man let out a pissed groan of anger, before shouting, "What the fuck was that?!", and turning to charge up the stairs. A loud _BANG_ could be heard in response, and both Aeric and Mann pulled off their guns, stepping up the stairs after him. They made it to the top of the stairs, just as they heard another crash, like things were being thrown around. The noises came from the room directly across from them, and the man shouted, "What the fuck is going on in there boy?!"

"Leave me alone!" came the voice of a male on the other side of the door. It sounded like he was in great emotional pain. "Shut the hell up!" exploded the man. He reached a sweaty hand into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a small silver key. Unlocking it, he pushed inwards, only to be met with resistance. He stepped back, charging the door again shoulder first. It bent inward slightly, but failed to break.

Aeric stuck his hand out, stopping the man when he tried to charge again. He nodded at him once, before stepping forward. "Hey. Uhh.." he said, not fully sure of what he was doing. "We just want to talk to you, okay?"

"Not a chance!" yelled back the voice.

 _Okay…,_ he thought to himself for a moment. "Will you at least let your father in?"

"He's not my father!" snapped the voice again.

"Umm… Alright. Will you talk to me then? Let me start. My name is Aeric White-" but he was cut off by Lieutenant Mann, who said roughly, "Let's just bust this shit down." He took a step back, and smashed into the door like the man had before. It held, but cracks appeared. He made to do so again, but stopped, hearing a loud bang from inside the room. He and Aeric both knew the familiar sound of a pistol discharging, and immediately, Aeric kicked the door again, while Mann grabbed at the comm on this belt, shouting "Shots fired, I repeat, shots fired!"

The man rushed the door with Aeric again, slamming into it. It finally gave way, and in stumbled Aeric and the man, Lieutenant Mann soon behind him. He looked up just in time to see the fat man collapse at his feet, a female Lucario wearing a red scarf drawing her paw back. Lieutenant Mann immediately raised his own rifle, firing on full auto at the Lucario. None of the rounds reached her however, instead bouncing off of an energy shield that appeared in front of her. They scattered around the room, leaving holes in every smooth surface. One round strayed, striking the fat man in the back, causing him to let out a slow grunt. Then, he was still.

Once Manns clip was empty, Aeric reached out, knocking his gun down. His intention was to show the Lucario they meant no harm, though more than likely, she could see that in his aura. Regardless, the Lucario rushed them next, using some energy force to fling their weapons from their hands, before smashing her balled paws into Aeric's face and Lieutenant Mann's mask. In an instant, the two fell back, Mann unconscious but Aeric heavily stunned. He suspected she could have done much worse but had pulled the punch slightly for his sake. She picked up their weapons, which had fallen to the floor, and threw them heavily down the stairs.

Aeric knew that he would have to go get the weapons before he could accost the male, but he highly doubted the Lucario would let him do that. Still, he stood up and, stepping over Mann's prone form, staggered down the stairs towards his weapon. It was a miracle he didn't fall in the process. Picking up his gun, he started back up the stairs, reaching the landing and brushing open the door once more. But the window was open, and the two were gone. Aeric stumbled over to the open window pointing his gun out the window as he called out over his comms, "Two down, one Civ! The window is open!" He knew he couldn't reply to the bases likely questions, he had left his helmet in his truck, but the comms and helmets had tracking devices embedded in them, so more than likely, backup was on the way.

He pointed his weapon out the window, down towards the ground. He began shooting at Lieutenant Mann's vehicle, the rifle in his hands jumping crazily in his dazed state. The reason being, its new driver was a man that looked to be about 19, more than likely the one he was to apprehend. In mute horror, his clip soon empty, he watched as the truck slammed into reverse, slamming into his own smaller one and knocking it downhill, the vehicle rotating and flipping in the snowy terrain. By the time it stopped, he could clearly see that the vehicle itself was totally ruined.

Quickly loading another clip, he began shooting at the other truck again, not stopping until the truck had turned away, driving down the road and out of sight. With a sigh, he lowered the Tavor, turning back to check on Lieutenant Mann. The fallen Lieutenant still lay in a heap in the doorway, his blue visor cracked. Aeric placed two fingers on the nape of his neck, searching for a pulse. Upon confirming he was alive, just unconscious, he sat back, leaning against the doorway with a sigh. He was going to have a long day.

-!-

"I see… Well, is Lieutenant Mann okay?" asked the image of Captain Pierce on the computer screen. Aeric had just finished explaining to him why they weren't still out checking the houses for weapons and such, and needless to say the captain, while he seemed calm, was far less than pleased. "And where are you now, Sergeant White?"

"We're en route back to base, Captain. My vehicle was destroyed when he escaped. The Lieutenant is in the vehicle behind me, sporting a major headache and cursing at the medics."

"Sounds like something he'd do. I take it he was rude to you after I left?"

"Yes Captain." Aeric replied simply, nodding. "Good. Don't take it the wrong way, he's like that with every green that shows their face around here."

"Sir? Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted?"

"Am I in trouble?"

The captain began laughing his ass off, and remained doing so for a good minute. Finally, he turned back to the camera and smiled at Aeric, shaking his head. "You are still so young at heart, Sergeant. It's a shame. No, you're not in trouble, though you'll still have to fill out paperwork for the vehicle later."

"I see. What about that trip to the binding festival you mentioned earlier?" he asked hopefully. In truth, he wanted to take Deliah out to see the town though, because she may have come from around here. Perhaps they could run into someone who knew her back when she was a Snorunt.

"Well… I don't normally do this, but tell you what. You've had a bad first day. You and your mate can go to the festival. Get whoevers driving you right now to take you later."

"My mate, sir?" he asked, ignoring the rest of that. He hoped the Captain wasn't implying what he thought he was. "Yeah, your Froslass. You two seem to be a little close to just be master and trainer."

"That's what we are sir. The most we've done with each other is harmless flirting." Even then, he was half drunk. Aeric, admittedly, had no problems with pokemon trainer relationships. But, as much as he loved Deliah, he could not see it happening for them.

"Son, in my experience, harmless flirting can lead to much more than that. Regardless, you can handle the paperwork when you get back."

"Yes sir."

The Captain closed his side of the link, and Aeric shut the computer down with a sigh. He had definitely gotten off lucky. After reaching up to the front seat and passing on the information to the driver, who said he'd wait for him, he lay back in the seat, passing the remaining time on the trip back to base.

Upon arriving, he got the driver to stop in front of his barracks, quickly hopping out and running inside. Inside lay a passed out Froslass and Snorunt, the two laying back on the bed. Aeric smiled at the cute sight, gently shaking Deliah to rouse her.

"Mmm…" she said, rolling over slightly. Aeric shook her again, a little more forceful this time. Her eyes opened briefly, scanning his face for a moment before she sighed. "You have black eye. Who punched you?"

"A rather angry Lucario." responded Aeric, a grim smile stretching out across his face. In truth, it hurt like hell, but he wouldn't show his pain in front of her. "Were you not wearing that helmet? It should have protected you." asked Deliah, sighing.

"I wasn't. Not in combat, so I didn't think I'd need it."

"Aeric, you're not invincible. You can still be hurt very easily." she said slowly, rubbing at her own eyes with a hand. "Promise no matter what, if you go on missions, you'll wear your helmet."

He chuckled at that, but nodded. "Okay, I will. Now, I hope you're ready for a night out."

"A night out?" she asked curious. He remained silent, still smiling, and finally her eyes widened in recognition. "We're going to the binding festival?!" she asked excitedly, her floating form bobbing up and down rapidly. Aeric nodded in confirmation, and she rushed him, slamming into him hard enough to knock him down onto the neighboring bed. Her arms were wrapped around his torso as she squeezed, saying "Thank you!" over and over again.

He hugged back laughing softly as well. "It's nothing Deliah, but we'd better go. Can't keep the driver waiting all day." He stood up and gently pulled her off him, beginning to peel off his remaining armor as a thought came to mind. "Ah crap. My helmet is in the wreckage!" He turned to face Deliah again, but to his surprise, she was already gone. He heard a door shut out side and laughed to himself again. Impatient as ever, he supposed. "Oh well. I'll file for a new one in the paperwork." he said dismissively.

He stepped out of the rest of the armor, leaving it laying on the bedding beside the still sleeping Snorunt, before turning and walking out the door. Soon enough he and Deliah were on the way to the festival, more than likely the section meant for entertainment. Already, he could see the flashing of lights in the distance, and if he were outside the vehicle, the upbeat sound of music playing.

They rolled to a stop at the edge of the frozen area, on which the festival took place every year. As they made to get out of the vehicle, the driver grabbed Aeric's arm and turned him slightly, just enough to face him. "Kid, I won't tell you where to go, but I'd recommend staying out of the more dimly lit areas of the binding festival. You're young. There's stuff you don't need to see."

Aeric nodded, tugging out of his grasp and stepping out of the vehicle. He made to say something to Deliah, but with a shock, realized she was gone, nowhere to be seen. He chuckled. Deliah was more than likely excited, and didn't want to wait for him. Thinking she couldn't have gotten far, he started walking, looking over the various attractions and trying to find the Froslass.

After about ten minutes of searching, and failing, to find her, he straightened up. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he shouted out her name. The various other people traversing the stalls all looked at him, the looks he received ranging from annoyance, to concern and confusion. But that didn't matter to him. He wanted to know where Deliah had gotten off to. Listening intently, he could hear nothing but the various sounds from the surrounding stalls, and the merry callings of the others at the festival.

He cupped his hands over his mouth, moving to shout again, when suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted from an alley not too far away. It almost looked like a weak aurora beam. Deliah had always had a weaker aurora beam than usual, so Aeric had always told her to use it only in emergencies. Panicking slightly, he pushed through a small group and raced into the alley, angered by what he saw.

In front of him were three Core soldiers, each out of uniform. They were all standing over Deliah, who was crouched protectively over two small children. The one out of uniform turned to look at him, smiling slightly. " You Core?"

"Yeah." answered Aeric, still looking from the soldiers to Deliah and the children again. "What's happening here?"

The man ignored his question, just waving him over with a hand. "This bitch is keeping me from taking back my food. One of the little runts she's keeping me from stole it." Aeric visibly stiffened when he heard him call Deliah a "bitch", but he held his tongue, not yet knowing the man's rank.

"She's my pokemon. Let me handle it. And I haven't caught your name, Mr…?"

"Macbeth. Warrant Officer Macbeth." he answered. "And your pokemon has caused me a lot of trouble tonight."

"I'm sorry about that. I'll make sure she learns her lesson." came Aeric testily. He didn't like Macbeth's attitude, nor the way he was slowly inching towards Deliah.

"What's your name?" he asked Aeric, still not taking his eyes off of Deliah. "I'm Gunnery Sergeant Aeric White." said Aeric, pushing his way forward, past the two soldiers with Macbeth. The Officer held out a hand, stopping Aeric from moving past him. "Now hold on... We'll handle your froslass. Why don't you go try your hand at one of the stalls?" It clearly wasn't a suggestion, but Aeric ignored it, pushing past the hand to kneel beside her.

"You okay Deliah?"

"I'm fine master, thank you. It's the kids I'm worried about." she answered, turning to one of them, a little girl who looked to be around nine years old. He could clearly see the signs of hunger weighing heavily on her skin, pale though it was. The other child, a young boy of around twelve, had likely stolen it so they could eat. He was also exhibiting clear signs of hunger.

"You two look hungry, huh?" he asked them slowly, reaching out and rubbing the boys head. The boy nodded slowly as he pulled his hand back, clutching the small loaf of bread in his hands closer to his chest. There was barely enough there to feed one, let alone two. "You two eat up okay? I'll buy the guy you took it from another loaf."

"Like hell you will. I paid for that, and I'm going to get it back, along with the froslass. So I'm going to tell you one more time, _Gunnery Sergeant_ White. Recall her into her pokeball, and hand her over." snapped Macbeth, placing emphasis on Aeric's clearly lower rank.

"I'm not going to do that, Macbeth." responded Aeric, crossing his arms. He wasn't going to let this man, no matter what they may have done, keep the two children from eating likely the only thing they had that day. "Then I'm going to have my boys put you in your place. Maybe once we're done with you, I'll teach your Froslass what it's like to be with a real man."

Aeric growled, taking up a fighting stance, before calling out, "Close your eyes, kids. I'll handle this." He was pissed, and every last bit of it was at Macbeth. The man had essentially just said he was going to rape Deliah.

One of the men stepped forward, walking towards Aeric as if he posed no real threat. Aeric's eyes narrowed, watching him as he approached. The man reached out, grabbing Aeric by the collar. In a flash, Aeric's hands shot up, one latching onto his wrist as the other smashed into his elbow. A loud pop could be heard, and the man let out a cry of immense pain as his elbow joint dislocated. But Aeric was not finished yet.

Reaching past his arms, Aeric grabbed the man by his shoulders, forcing him down as Aeric's knee crashed into his face. Releasing him, the man collapsed, clearly knocked out cold.

"One. Don't fuck with me." growled Aeric, turning to the next man, who had pulled out a knife. The man ran at him, leading with the knife to thrust at Aeric. Sidestepping the thrust and sticking his leg out, Aeric watched as the man stumbled past him, Aeric then giving him a quick show as he fell over his fallen comrade. Not letting him get a break, he stepped on the hand that held the knife, listening to the cracks and pops of various bones in the hand. He leaned over, grabbing the man's head with one hand while smashing his fist repeatedly into the back of his neck.

After a moment, he stopped, standing back up to face Macbeth. "Two. Don't threaten my Pokemon." Aeric took one step towards him when he reached quickly into his pocket, pulling out a small pistol. It was an rm380, highly concealable, so it was easy to see why Aeric hadn't noticed it at first.

"Seems like I need to handle this myself." Aeric closed his eyes. _BANG._

 **WHATS THIS?! A CLIFFHANGER?! HA!**

 **Okay, I can't do that. Well, I will say that this came a little faster than I anticipated. I honestly thought it would be another couple of days before I finished this chapter. Well, what do you guys think? I know I liked what I came up with, so I hope you do too! On another note, some of you may have noticed the name change. I am no longer the wonderful, "Mr. Handy." That didn't really flow as well with Crisis and Nexus, at least according to Crisis. So, I have become the wonderful new Altus. Essentially, same writer, new name. Well, like I said, I highly enjoy writing this story. Writing a more modern story like this is definitely a little new to me. Well, that's all from me. I guess I'll turn things over to Nexus for his turn! Oh, one last thing. Our cover art, as much as I like it, is only temporary. We are instead looking to commission an artist for it, so if you have any suggestions please send them are why. Anyways, this is Altus, signing off for a little while. I need sleep.**


	6. Chapter 6: Aaron - 2

**A/N: Alright Nexus here, mines now done. Guess you guys get to read my error riddled chapter… And if you find any, I swear blame Crisis she is supposed to edit them. :3**

 **Shhhh, don't tell her I told you to blame her for all mistakes K?**

 **K**

 **Sweet, on with the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Nintendo, or Gamefreak.**

* * *

 **[Aaron]**

With a heavy sigh, General Brooks leaned against his desk. Pinching the bridge of his nose, "What happened now?" he asked to Aliha, who was standing with a hand covering her eye as Kolby just stood next to her.

Aliha looked to Kolby who had her arms folded in front of her chest with a feminine lean in her hips. "Ask her!" Aliha sounded venomously with a sharp glare of her one eye. Kolby let off of her lean and looked as if she was about to speak, but before she could, Brooks rose a hand to stop her.

Shaking his head while walking back around his desk to sit, "I really don't have time for this. Just shake hands and drop it," he commanded before falling into his chair. Aliha piped up with a quick 'but' before being cut off. "No buts! Take your leave!" he commanded again with a firm point to the door. "Aaron, stay. I need to speak with you." Aaron was just leaning in the corner and gave no response to the General.

With an angered groan, Aliha spun and walked out with a quick slam of the door. Kolby leaned back into her hip as Aaron rolled off of the wall to stand next to her. "What?" Aaron asked dully.

"I'm curious to know where you stand on doing the gym trial yourself." Brooks folded his hands with his elbows on the desk as if forgetting the ordeal just earlier.

"I thought all I needed to do was train Aliha?" Aaron asked with a cock of his head while Kolby let out a quiet chuckle.

"That's part of it, I was more or less hinting at the idea that you need to do them too. If you want to make good on our deal, where I help you and you help me; you must become a full Guardian of Asmira. Then we'll talk about giving you a top spot at the temple," he explained to the dismay of Aaron.

"Guardian of Asmira?" Aaron asked with a light tilt of his head.

With a hefty sigh, the General looked around the room absently. He looked back to Aaron, "You know, defenders against foreign and domestic threats, honor, duty, sacrifice, yada yada yada." The General waved his hand dismissively of the explanation. With another sigh, he stood from his desk lean. "Look, you're a good kid. I've read about your hardships, I just want to help you. But for me to do that, you must be willing to help me… You've been alone, much like I was when I was your age. I know the stress and pain that can bring." He kneeled to Aaron's height. "I'm going to stretch the same opportunity to you that I was given. A chance to be apart of something. Something greater than yourself." The general opened his darkened leather trench coat to show the inside.

Inside, Aaron could see many badges that lined the coats interior, as well as the butt of a gun on his back. Among the badges, Aaron could make out a crest above them all. A deep royal purple patch, which held the image of a black shield with a silver sword running diagonally behind it. Written above the shield was the word 'Honor', on it was 'Duty', and below it 'Sacrifice'. Closing his coat, he stood tall again.

"I offer you a position within the Guardians. To be something greater," he held out a hand for Aaron.

Turning away, Aaron looked to Kolby who held a look of appraisal. _'What are you thinkin?'_ Kolby sent to Aaron sweetly.

A long pause ensued as Aaron lowered his head in thought. After what seemed like hours to the General, "What would I be doing?" Aaron asked with his head still lowered.

"Depends on you, depends on what you're good at. Though I would recommend you to the Combat Engineer section. Seems more your speed," Brooks explained briefly.

 _'And that entails?'_ Questioned Kolby to the General.

With a small Laugh, "I guess it depends on the mission at hand. One day you could be making a bomb, Then the next defusing a bomb, or setting the bomb. Hell they would even send you into a combat zone to steal the information off of hardware. Almost like a catch all for all the smart shit that needs to be done."

Another pause that seemed like hours, "I accept," Aaron stated proudly. He felt apart of something, granted it felt odd, but a good odd. Maybe this is what he's been waiting for. He's always wanted to leave the islands, just never really figured how he'd do it. Till now.

"Good to hear. Unfortunately you'll need a badge for me to induct you." Aaron's face dropped at the words. "But luckily there is a gym here. Not an easy one, but there is one here. However with your little girly here, you should be fine. It is a dark type gym after all," Brooks explained.

Sighing, "Fine, I'll do the gym." Aaron decided he would do them already anyway. Not that he had the desire to prove himself in anyway.

"Not just the one!" The General stated matter of factually. "If you want my approval, you gotta be committed to do all of them." Brooks explained.

"Fine sure, i'll do all of them." Aaron caved. He looked to Kobly to see if she approved of his action, and was greeted with a smile that she was trying to hide. Giving a brief smile himself, he looked back Brooks.

"Alright then, finish the training with the girl and get the badge. Then we'll talk," The General ordered.

"Uh, I don't think she's really paying any attention. It looks as if most of its going over her head." Aaron explained. "So, it might be a waste of time to continue her training."

Brooks sat down in his chair, and gave of a noise as he was thinking. "Alright then. I will test to see if she had learned anything," he stated. "And earlier you said she was coming multiple times a day for lessons?" Aaron nodded. "And you think she learned nothing?" Aaron nodded again. He looked to Kolby, "And you, you can read what people are doing and feeling. Was she paying attention?" He asked to Kolby who only twitched slightly at the thought.

 _'No, she was not paying any attention to the lessons Aaron was giving.'_ She looked to Aaron briefly while talking.

"Okay then, her training is over for the foreseeable future. However you now need to be ready for a gym battle. Do you have a Trainer Card?" He asked gesturing to Aaron.

"No, I do not."

With a huff, "You know it's illegal to have a pokemon without a registered Trainer Card don't you?" The General remarked playfully.

"Yeah, I do many illegal things." Aaron played before walking to the door, Kolby following.

"Hey! I didn't dismiss you!" Brooks shouted.

"Uh-huh yeah," Aaron waved before leaving with Kolby following after.

Kolby took a few fast steps to walk next to Aaron, _'That seemed a little rude.'_

Aaron shrugged, which didn't hurt as his wound had healed nicely over the time he spent here with their doctors. "It's all in good fun." Aaron stated while walking up to the front double doors of the stadium.

 _'Where are we going?'_ Kolby asked while taking a few large strides forward. Turning around to face Aaron as she walked backwards, _'We hadn't left for a while.'_

"We… Are going to the festival." Aaron stated dully. Kolby froze and just waited in disbelief. Aaron walked past her hiding a smile in the darkness of his hood.

 _'R-r-r-really?'_ Kolby stuttered while trying to hide her excitement, as Aaron and her had never truly stayed in the festival. They have been there of course, but never really stayed for long. Aaron would go to grab a part that he normally wouldn't be able to get on the Sul islands. Granted he got in trouble when he did so, mainly because Aaron wasn't allowed to leave the house at all. To Kolby it seemed weird that his Fosters threatened him they way they did. But she learned to live with it.

"Yeah 'really'. You just gonna stand there or are you gonna come?" Aaron teased while sliding down the large slope that led to the icy floor of the festival. Sliding to a slow stop on the ice, he looked back to the slope just as Kolby started to slide down. Coming to a stop right in front of Aaron with a bright smile, Aaron chuckled at her before turning and waving for her to follow -which she did.

The Binding is huge. Tents, booths, food trucks, long bathroom lines, markets, fortune tellers, collectors, battlers, trainers, stages, music, scammers, peddlers, thieves, alcohol, families, fireworks, and of course ice sculptures. Kolby began dragging Aaron to every stand that she found interest in, which was most of them. However the crowd heavily triggered Aarons anxiety. But putting his music on helped. The smell of smoke left his nose from that fateful day, and his breathing slowed. With music he can focus. Kolby understood, so she slowed her pace.

Aaron was just listening to music while following after a giddy lucario, but glancing into an alleyway of booths caused Aaron to halt. With a snap of a finger, Kolby stopped and looked back to Aaron. In the alleyway stood 16 core soldiers, all with drinks. One of which had released a pokemon, which 3 of them proceeded to kick and hit the pokemon. It was surrounded, and seemed as though it had no desire to harm anyone. Almost as if it would rather take the beating then hurt something. Aaron could see Kolby's blood boil, not only see but feel it through their connection. Balling her fist, she took a large step forward. Aaron reached out an arm to stop her. She looked at Aaron as if he was crazy, but the look on his face told her he was making a plan.

Swiftly walking away, Aaron walked to the market section of the Binding. 'Lets see how diverse the market is this year.' Aaron thought to himself. After walking up to a few booths that held veils and chemicals, he stopped and picked something up -a black bottle of sorts. It held the label trichloroethylene. Kneeling down he tossed it under the tent wall, where Kolby was waiting with his bag. Grabbing another smaller black bottle at his kneeled level, this one read Antimony(iii) Chloride. Tossing it under the tent to Kolby, Aaron stood.

As he was walking out, "Didn't find what you needed?" Asked the tent clerk with massive glasses.

Not stopping, "Nope!" Aaron stated dully before walking out. Walking to the center of the market Aaron looked around again. Quick stepping over to a fortune teller. Who was currently reading a girl, both the girl and the teller's eyes were closed. What Aaron was most focused on was a small basin in between the pair, which has orange smoke rising from it. Kneeling down to the side of the table, Aaron lifted the cloth up.

"Ah! I see it!" Said the teller. The lady gasped, as Aaron shook his head. "I see a greatness in you. You are destined to do something great!" The teller continued. Aaron ignored the pair and grabbed a small tray that was on a end table near the teller.

Walking back to Kolby with the tray in hand, he gestured for her to spin around. Doing so, he dumped about 125Φ in the bag but stopped to read an orange glass flask before it too fell into the bag. Bromine. Nodding he dropped it into the bag. Walking away he tossed the tray into the trash before looking around the stores again. Grabbing 6 free waters from a stand he dumped out 5 of them before stowing the 6th.

Stepping up to another stand that held fire types, a forge, and an anvil. Aaron looked to the clerk, "Could I get some metal brightener?" Aaron asked the dirty man.

"Sure thing, that'll be 25Φ." Handing him the money, the man left to the back of his tent. Coming back, he handed Aaron a small white jug. Thanking the man, Aaron and Kolby left.

Kolby seemed really confused of the plan, but followed after Aaron. Sliding into an alleyway, Aaron took out the 5 flasks. Pouring the Chloride into each of the 5 flasks, he threw the empty flask to the side, while Kolby walked over to the flask to pick it up begrudgingly. Then Aaron pulled out the trichloroethylene and the Fluoride, he began to slowly pour both at the same time into each flask. Closing each flask, he shook them violently. Setting them down to rest, he opened them again -holding a hand over his face as a green smoke rose from the glass flasks. Ignoring the smoke, Aaron slowly and carfully poured a small amount of metal brightener into each of the mixes, each one gave a resounding puff of black smoke. Closing them, Aaron let them rest again.

Looking to Kolby, who was still picking up the garbage Aaron had tossed about. "Could you do me a favor?" He asked gaining her attention. She looked at him waiting, "Go get a fire type." Her face dropped before all of the items she was holding fell out of her limp arms as she bagan walking out of the alleyway.

Aaron tapped his foot waiting. Until a fireball shot straight down the alleyway past him. _'Make him shoot fire at the flasks!'_ Aaron yelled mentally. Kolby slid to a stop next to the flasks as a typhlosion sprinted into the alleyway after her. Grabbing its head, Kolby aimed it at the flasks just as it began to shoot fire in anger. Aaron watched carefully at the flasks, hoping not to overheat them. _'Okay, stop!'_ Aaron yelled with a crossing motion of his arms. Slamming her fist onto the crown of the pokemon's head, she let it fall limp onto the icy floor. Carefully opening the flasks while steam bellowing out. He poured the last vile left, Bromine, into the mix before quickly closing the flask. Sighing in relief he let them cool.

"Ready for this?" Aaron asked as he looked up to Kolby.

 _'I guess, still don't know what we're doing.'_ She crossed her arms waiting for an explanation. _'And you're going to pay for all those things right?'_ she asked with a glare.

"Of course!" Aaron lied. He picked up the flasks to begin packing them. "Alright, time to do this thing," he whispered to himself while walking out of the little alleyway.

'Hey! What about him?" She gestured to the typhlosion. Getting no response, she let out a sigh before quickly running to catch up.

After getting direction from Kolby as to where that alleyway was, Aaron headed straight there. Thinking he had wasted to much time, he walked faster than normal, though he was careful as to not shake his backpack to much. Finally after reaching the alleyway, they peeked in. Watching as they were still beating the anger reserved pokemon, Kolby quickly became mad again. Though Aaron stopped her yet again. Taking a breath, he stepped into the alleyways entrance. Taking the flasks out, he began to shake them while walking in.

Gaining all 16 Core members attention was easy enough. Most stood as Aaron approached with Kolby right on his heels. The drunk soldiers grabbed their weapons as a hooded Black slowly walked in their alleyway.

 _'Kolby! Extremespeed, bring me to the center.'_ Just as he asked, Kolby grabbed him and ran as fast as she could, which was faster than a normal lucario even under Extremespeed.

Standing in the center of the group, above the light blue quadrupede. Its eyes, deep ocean blue -held a look of shock and distant pain as if she had long since ignored the strikes to her form. Looking back up from the hurt ninetales, to the nearest 3 Core who were the ones beating her; Aaron threw 4 flasks in every direction. Once they hit the ground, they cracked and popped apart releasing a wide birth of a grey mist. 13 of the core were within the cloud, most covered their mouths but soon they dropped to their knees and fall flat on their face. The 3 members still remaining now realised they were stuck in an inescapable circle with a very angry lucario.

With a growl from Kolby, Aaron turned away to kneel next to the downed ninetales. "Are you alright?" Aaron asked cautiously. It nodded sheepishly. "Did they hurt you?" Aaron asked while looking back to the now unconscious men and a panting Kolby. It shook its head.

' _Kolby, you're up.'_ Aaron stated while standing. _'But keep me in the loop.'_

' _Are you alright?'_ Kobly asked her again while also kneeling to her downed level.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Kolby transmitted her voice.

' _Female, mental note.'_ Aaron archived for himself.

Aaron walked up to the Core member closest to begin searching them. _'Are they your owner's?'_ Kolby asked her. She just nodded her head silently, but Aaron took note that she didn't have a Tame Collar that all Core members pokemon are mandatory to wear. _'They didn't have you long did they?'_ Kolby wasn't really looking for answer because she lowered her head at her own questioned, but the ninetales shook her head anyway. With a deep breath, _'Okay, where's home for you?'_ Kolby asked trying to be helpful even though neither of us knew the area very well. So even if she had a home, it would be very unlikely that we would be able to help her.

' _I don't have a home, not anymore.'_ She looked to the fallen men with a flash of anger.

'Well, look.' Kolby began while Aaron and Kolby gave a quick glance to each other. Aaron nodded his head and Kolby smiled before looking back to the ninetales. _'You could come with us.'_ Kolby offered, a look of happiness waved over the ninetales but it was sucked away almost faster then it came. Tearing her gaze from Kolby to glare at Aaron, she looked as if she was untrusting of Aaron. Kolby too glanced at Aaron, _'Oh, don't worry about him! He's…'_ she paused with a thinking face. _'He's alright I guess,'_ Kolby laughed out, while the ninetales chuckled briefly before cutting sounds off.

' _Alright fine… Though I want to be able to leave if I have to!'_ she demanded while standing.

"Not a problem," Aaron stated with a smile. The ninetales became nervous as she wasn't aware Aaron could understand or hear her. The ninetales broke her stupor to look around the area of downed soldiers, "Oh, don't worry about them. They're just sleeping," Aaron smiled. She looked unsure but after looking closer to the soldiers, she could see the faint raise and fall of their chests. Nodding her head at him, "Alright, what's your name?" He asked while search another Core.

' _Luci,'_ she squeaked out with her head lowered.

Kolby's head snapped up, _'We need to hurry Aaron.'_ Aaron just nodded and lifted 2 pokeballs, one was Kolby's cracked one, and the other was one of 2 Aaron had found on the Core's belt.

Using the Core members hand he retracted Luci with the normal ease, while Kolby slowly pixelated away into her repaired pokeball. After both were put into their balls, Aaron reached down to the second ball on the man's belt. Expanding it, he let it open to find nothing inside. Smiling, he closed and shrunk the ball to pocket it. With his music still playing, he looked back up to one of the entrances to the alleyway to find a couple of more Core soldiers in its pathway. Spinning on his heel, Aaron started to run out the other side. Taking one phone of his music off of his ear, he could hear them chasing after him.

Placing it back on his ear, he took several sharp turns while slipping around people. The Core however, just pushed people out of their way. Taking another sharp turn, Aaron entered the market section of the Binding again. Dropping his hood, he spun into the booth he had stolen the trichloroethylene and the Chloride from. With calm breaths, he walked behind the service counter to lean on it lazily. The clerk with the glass turned away from a customer he was helping to see Aaron behind his counter leaning as if he was meant to be there.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" The large glasses man spoke stuffely.

"Oh, nothing." Aaron sounded dull and bored, not even looking to the clerk.

A man walked up to the the counter with a couple of bottles but he looked confused. "Hey, could you help me?" He began. Both Aaron and the clerk looked to the man, "I'm trying to filter water coming from a well. I already have a distributer -I'm just look for the right mixture to use." He stated while holding to bottles up just as the Core members sprint behind him.

The clerk was about to speak, but Aaron beat him to it. "You don't want to use those. Those will cause a reaction you don't want. You want 3 parts bromine, 2 parts chloroheptane. That would do the job." The man nodded his thanks before continuing his walk around the booth. "Oh, make sure it's a slow bleed, you don't want to waste the whole thing!" Aaron recommended before swinging around the counter.

Looking left and right, Aaron went left as the Core had continued to run to the right. Breathing out, _'That went well.'_

Aaron walked back to the large slope and started to march up. Looking back about halfway, he could see the group of Core still running around trying to chase him. Though what caught his eye was the large crowd of to the side of the festival. It contained a large area that was constantly being maintained by the ice types, as a pokemon battle was raging. The gym leader had left their post to do their gym battles on the ice at the Binding. Pausing, he waited to see what pokemon she was going to use. Releasing a houndoom, Aaron grinned before walking all the way up the hill.

Reaching the top, Aaron was greeted by a man in lighter grey coloured camo. Rolling his eyes, "What David?" Aaron spoke coldly.

"The Major General would like to speak with you." He sounded formal, more tense than before. Aaron raised a brow to him, "General Brooks," David clarified. Aaron nodded before walking around him. "What no escort needed?" Grinned David.

"Naw, no need." Aaron diverted David's attempt at humor. David deadpanned before walking away. Walking back into the main hall of the stadium, Aaron reached into his pocket to take out Kolby's pokeball to realse her. She gave him a tilt of his head, "Could you go and take care of her?" he asked while handing her Luci's ball. Nodding her approval, she walked away from Aaron.

Aaron walked up to the door to the General's office, before quietly entering without knocking. Closing the door behind him, Aaron looked over his shoulder to the General at his desk. Brooks was on the phone leaning back in his chair with his large black combat boots on his desk. Placing one finger into the air, he started talking into the phone again.

"No… No… Well, yeah… Dan, I got this handled." He gave Aaron a silent exaggerated expression of annoyance. "Yes I'm sure. Yeah he just walked in. I am!" He hung up with a quick slam. He shook his head with a smile while leaning forward in his chair, looking to Aaron with a grin -he stood. "Alright, right down to business." Brooks stated while holding out a plastic card to Aaron. "Use this, it will get you into the battle. I already set you up, all you gotta do is show up to the battle and fight." After Aaron had taken the item, Brooks sat down into his chair once again. Looking to the plastic item. It held a picture of him, along with his age at 18, and height of 5'9", and a couple of other things he didn't bother to look at.

"I got another pokemon by the way, she's pretty cool," Aaron stated flatly.

Brooks gave a shocked look before chuckling, "Not surprising. Whats her name?" He inquired.

"Luci," Aaron announced fastly.

"Ah, what is she? And do you need to reset her ball?" Brooks asked as he reached down under his desk to grab something.

"She's a ice ninetales, and yes I would need to." The General drug his hand back out from under his desk to hold it out to Aaron. Walking forward, Aaron grabbed the small item Brooks was holding. Inspecting it, the item looked like a star with little pins along its bottom.

"Just put that on the top of the ball and it should let it reset. Careful though, those are really hard to get ahold of." Leaning back over his desk, the General began to look through some papers on the desk. "But anyway, good luck on the fight."

Aaron nodded before walking to the door. "When is it?" Aaron asked while looking back to him.

"Ah, right… That's kinda important huh?" Brooks laughed, while Aaron broke loose a rare smile. "It's later tonight!" Aaron's eyes went wide for a brief moment as his smile dropped. He couldn't help but think of all the things he wouldn't be able to do, like study the gym leader, or train. "You'll do fine kid. Knock some heads." Brooks leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. Aaron nodded in his discomfort, before turning around to the door. "Oh! Don't forget about the crowd out there!" The General remarked as Aaron closed the door.

"Shit!" Aaron yelled in the hall right outside the door. Inside he could hear the General laughing within. Walking away, the laughing began to fade as he stepped up to his door. Reaching a hand out to the knob, the door was pulled away from him as Kolby opened it from the other side. Kolby held out her hand which held a non-broken pokeball.

Aaron walked past Kolby in deep thought while grabbing Luci's ball, _'What's up?'_ she asked with a cock of her head. Answering with a deep breath, Aaron sank down onto the couch as he looked down to the ball. Taking out the small star object he was given by Brooks, he placed the star onto the top of the red portion of the pokeball. Soon a beeping could be heard sounding from the star. Ignoring it, he placed the ball and connected star into his pocket.

"You got this," Aaron whispered to himself. Shooting up with dull fervent, "Where is Luci?" He asked, his head snapping to Luci as she poked her head around the corner of the kitchen. "Let me look at you," he stated with a lazy waving gesture into the room. Luci took a few extremely wary steps forward so that Aaron could better look at her. After a quick walk around, Aaron nodded his head with approval. Looking to Kolby briefly, "How is she settling?" he asked before continuing his stares.

' _Fine, she has calmed drastically since coming here.'_

Looking between both Kolby and Luci, "I think we can do this." Aaron walked over to the door only to look back at them. Swinging the door open, he gestured them out.

' _What's go'in on?'_ asked Luci through Kolby.

Kolby waited no time at all to follow directions, "We are going back to the festival." Luci's face dropped at Aaron's comment but she still took a cautious step in front of Aaron -only to sprint past him to catch up and stand next to Kolby. Closing the door behind him he walked down the hall with his mon'. Walking up to the main door he pushed it open for Kolby and Luci. Aaron lost himself in thought as he started to walk and led Kolby and Luci to the festival once again.

Kolby, Aaron, and Luci all stood up to the edge of the crowd on the ice. In the large walled off circle was a pokemon fight. A grovyle vs a greninja. The gym leader was to the left who was wearing heavy fussy topped boots and a large black puffy jacket with the greninja, while the basic boy on the right was with the grovyle. The grovyle was soon knocked out by the greninja do to the boys inexperience, and the gym leader offered him luck for the next time. She then walked to the center of the field to read a small piece of paper.

Clearing her presumed tiny voice, "Next, Aaron Black!" The small woman yelled over the crowd. Silence began to fill the crowd as most of the people and few collard pokemon looked about for the next challenger. Taking a few large breaths Aaron pulled out both his pokeballs before retracting both Kolby and Luci into their respective balls. With a quick and deep breath, Aaron jumped over the small ice barrier to walk over to his end of the 100yd field. Soon the crowd erupted out as Aaron walked to his spot on the buffed flat arena.

Looking around the crowd, Aaron could feel the pressure in his chest build, ready to burst. With quickened breath Aaron snapped his eyes away from the crowd to his feet. His hands stuffed into his hoodie he clutched Kolby's ball tightly, deepening his shallow breaths as he glanced at the cameras that were recording the fight. Realising her ball, he grabbed his headphones from around his neck to place them on his head. The gym leader, known by all as Ealna -gave a shocked weird stare to Aaron. Her face dropped back to that of her oh so known cocky grin as her platinum blond hair fell in front of her face.

"Ready yourself!" she loudly announced. She reached into her puffy unzipped coat pocket to take a pokeball out. Throwing the ball, a roarin houndoom appeared -mighty and proud with its head held high. Its horns, larger than average gave a sharp turn upward at their ends. Its eyes pierced Aarons soul, as if looking for a weakness already.

Closing his eyes, Aaron reached up to press the play button on the side of his headphones. His music began to play and he could feel the pressure in his chest drain. Opening his eyes, he kept his head low, as to block the view of his face under his hood. Reaching into his hood pockets again, he grabbed onto the cracked ball.

"We got this," Aaron stated quietly to himself. Pressing her button, the ball sparked and 4 red arching beams shoot out from the ball to slowly form a lucario. _'Kolby,'_ Aaron began causing her head to slightly turn his direction. _'They hit like a truck, stay fast and stay low,'_ Aaron informed. Kolby nodded before looking back to the hound. Taking a large breath, she exhaled it while lowering herself low to the ground with her left palm on the ice and her right leg out and back.

"Dog speed my friend!" Ealna boomed. Pointing dramatically forward, "Run forward and Flamethrower!" she commanded.

'Calm Mind,' Aaron sent even-temperedly. Kolby's eyes closed at Aaron's command, her ears perked at the sound of claws on ice and bursts of fire. 'Double team.'

The lucario's eyes snapped open as her unmoving form split into 8 around the houndoom. Fire burst through the original location of Kolby, only for the copy in her place was blown away.

'Swords Dance,' Aaron commanded. All 7 remaining copies stood and performed quick and fluent arm and leg movements.

"Overheat quick!" She screamed out to the houndoom, whose ears tucked at her loud voice. "Don't let her set!" The hound quickly rose its head to roar into the sky as a large wave of heat expelled from it.

'Back,' Aaron sent simply. Kolby jumped back at his words just as all of her clones had been hit and destroyed. Sliding to a stop, she lowered herself back down with another breath. 'Ready?' he asked. Kolby gave a quick faint nod, 'Extremespeed,' she vanished at his word with only a small kick up of icy dust. The houndooms head snapped from angle to angle looking for any sign of the anubis. Finding nothing but a few streams of dust, the hounds head and body got low and defensive.

' _Close Combat.'_ Almost in no time flat, Kolby appeared next to the hound with her leg ready to deliver an axe kick to its head. Almost without even thinking, the dog backpedaled just enough for the kick to swipe right past its snout. Shattering the ice with her force, the houndoom jumped back just as Kolby jumped forward.

Sliding to a stop on one leg, Kolby launched her free leg at the hounds side. However it ducked under her side kick, and took a sharp breath just as Kolby began to complete her kick with a 360. Spinning to her 2 feet she placed a palm on the dog's head to flip over him as he spit a flame straight out. Though with her hand on his head his fire could be controlled.

Standing to the dogs side with her hand on its head, 'Focus Blast to the back of its head,' Aaron stated calmly.

Raising her left fist up, "Blast Burn!" The leader boomed. Aaron's eyes went wide. Snapping its mouth shut to force its fire to stop it growled lowly.

Just as Kolby's fist made contact, a massive beam of fire shot from the pair to the sky. The leader held a grin, while Aaron looked collected and calm. Out of the fire shot a houndoom sliding on the ground. The fire pillar ceased, and slouched over and smoking in its center with arms hanging limp, stood a shaking Kolby. Aaron could see the crowd erupt once again, but his attention was more focused on Kolby, scanning her form for injuries. Falling, as her leg had given out, Kolby placed a palm on the ice as her panting increased. Dragging his attention back to the leader, he watched her lips move.

"Not bad," she started. "Quite the lucario you got there. Some fire types can't take that last move. But she's still standing like a champ." Raising her ball once again, she retracted the houndoom back into its safety center. Holding out the hounds ball behind her, someone from the crow began to walk up to take it away.

Raising Kolby's ball, it let loose a high pitched whine as its beam traveled 4 times its normal rate. Once it hit her, it almost looked like it shot through her as it disintegrated the lucario. The beam faded, and the look on faces held that of concern or amusement and maybe a mix of both. Aaron however held firm to his calm mentality.

"You should get that ball looked at," stated the gym leader snarkily.

"Just throw your next." Aaron remarked coldly. Ealna seemed to flinch slightly at the coldness of Aaron, but she shook it off before dramatically stuffing her hand back into her pocket to dig around.

Snapping her hand back out she jutted forward another ball in her hand with yet another smirk. "You won't beat this one!" she boomed. The ball popped open as a red beam shot from the it. The beam collected to make a bright white furred canine. Bladed tail and face, the absol stood firm with a small tight necklace tied around its neck. The necklace was simple in appearance, but it held a form of marble from the chain.

Taking another deep breath, he pulled Luci's ball out. _'I know we haven't gotten to know each other yet, but I need you to be able to win this._ ' Aaron rose her ball out. The beam from Luci's ball quickly formed the ninetales. However she shook her head, and looked around. Luci's eyes spread wide at the sight of the large crowd around her, staring at her, even judging her.

"Hey!" Aaron yelled. Luci's head snapped back to meet his eyes. His judging eyes. "You're alright. You're good. Stay calm." His voice for whatever reason seemed to calm her. Looking down she nodded her head to herself. She rose her head back up to look at the absol across the way. Her head gave a slight tilt at her situation. "It's a pokemon battle." She jumped out of her skin at the realization. Aaron guessed as much, she was a pacifist and had no want to fight.

"Perish Song!" She boomed once again. However the absol did not flinch at her volume. The absol's mouth fell and hung loosely as an evil like echoing screech sounded from the canine. Luci's front paws shot to her ears at the sound. She squirmed in pain, "Now! Fire Blast!" At the command, the absol's mouth closed and it took a large breath in.

"Dodge left," Aaron stated. Still holding her ears in pain even though the sound had stopped, she fell over to her left just as a blast of fire singed her right flank. Shaking her head once again, she placed all 4 paws on the ground to stand.

"Quick attack!" The absol exploded into a full sprint.

"Jump over!" Aaron yelled. Scrambling to her feet, she put all her energy into her paws before springing over the absol.

"Jump!" Ealna boomed across the field. As commanded, the absol jumped, and the two collided mid air. They both slid away from one another, the absol to the left side of the field and Luci on the right.

The absol still stood tall, "Come on girl, get up!" Aaron yelled over to the ninetales. Staggering to her feet, she breathed heavily. _'I don't know how much longer she can do this.'_ Aaron remarked internally. "Dazzling Gleam!" Luci's eyes went wide at the thought of harming someone.

"Stone Edge!" Ealna screamed. The absol yet again sprinted forward.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Aaron repeated. "Please, just do it!" Her head snapped from the absol and Aaron. Looking back to the absol, her breath quickened. Her eyes grew a pick glow as well as her mouth. Opening her maw, a pink beam of energy zoomed out. However soon after opening her mouth, her body gave a short jolt as her beam stopped and she fell.

Fortunately however, the beam hit the absol dead on. It went sailing across the ground and into the ice wall that surrounds the arena. Ealna's face was filled with shock, as was Aaron's. Both did not expect that amount of power to come out of the ninetales. Everyone's head snapped back to the absol as it stood back up to shake the ice from its fur. It stumbled around, clearly hurt and on its last leg.

"Looks like I win again!" Ealna's voice echoed through the crowed and arena. She rose her ball to retract her absol, but Aaron soon released Kolby back onto the field. Ealna froze at the action.

"She wasn't defeated. I can still use her." Aaron explained.

With an annoyed grin and scoff, "Fine."

Kolby was still breathing hard and panting, but she still looked determined to win. Even though she could barely stand, she still stood strong willed. 'We'll end this fast okay?' Kolby nodded and lowered herself once again. The absol limped its way back to its side of the field, and got into a defensive position.

"Perish Song!" she re-commanded. Once again, the absol's mouth dropped open.

' _Extremespeed,'_ Aaron sent fastly. In a blink, Kolby was once again gone from vision. _'Brick Break.'_

The moment a sound came out of the absol's maw, he got a straight punch to the forehead. Sliding back, he flew into the gym leader knocking her off of her feet and onto her back. With a loud 'uff' from the impact, she sat up to shake her head. Looking back up, she saw Kolby. In a wide side stance with her right fist still out and her left arm slightly above her. Sliding up to her full height, she grinned to the baffled gym leader.

Turning on her heels to face Aaron, who had his head high enough so she could see his bright smile under his hood. Kolby couldn't help but smile as well. Walking over to Aaron, she stood behind him as the gym leader stood from her downed pokemon. She too started to walk to Aaron, midwalk however -she pulled her pokeball out once again to retract the injured absol.

Standing even with Aaron, she raised her grin to him once again. "That was really good, and you!" she began while pointing to Kolby who was panting behind Aaron. "You are something else, for a steel type to take a Blast Burn point blank is something I have never seen before." Looking back to Aaron, "You got yourself a keeper."

Kolby blushed under her fur behind Aaron, "I am well aware she is," Aaron informed. She blushed harder.

"Oh!" Ealna boomed face to face causing Aaron to flinch and Kolby to visible wince. "Your prize, right." Reaching into her pockets once again, she pulled out a small plastic bag and a badge. Handing him the bag, and the badge which was a black rhombus with a red center and corners. "Here is the Darkness Badge. As for the bag, well it's broken so I have no use for it anymore. And trust me, if I could have used it; you definitely wouldn't have one that second fight." She gave a firm nod to Aaron before walking back to the center while pulling out her piece of paper again.

Walking off to the side of the arena, Aaron pulled his headphones off. Looking behind him to see if Kolby was following; which she was. _'Do you want to ride in the ball?'_ he sent. She just shook her head before leaning on the ice barricade with an injured wince.

' _What is that?'_ Kolby asked while gesturing to the plastic bag. Aaron's head snapped to the bag before he rose it up to look in. His eyes went wide at the object. It looked to be a bracelet of sorts. A mega bracelet, however there was no stone. Looking back to the gym leader who was now readying her pokemon to fight the next challenger; Aaron put two and two together that she probably had a mega absol, considering it had a stone around its neck.

Closing the bag, he placed it into his backpack safely tucked away. _'What was it?'_ she asked again.

' _For now, a surprise!'_ he sent back with a smile. Rolling her eyes, she followed after Aaron who had hopped the ice wall to make his way back to the stadium base.

Kolby had some trouble keeping up with Aarons skip in his step, but she managed to follow close behind him. Extremespeed may be useful and cool, but it does have its drawbacks. It will suck the energy away from the pokemon, and not to even mention the stress it puts on their legs. So even though they were sore, she followed close.

Aaron took two steps at a time up the stair of the stadium. Reaching the top, he turned and looked down to Kolby who was panting from their walk. Taking a few steps back down, he reached a hand out for her. Looking up to Aaron, she grabbed his hand with a sharp jerk of her head to the floor to hide her blush. Helping her to the top he opened the door for her, he wanted her to rest but she refused to re-enter her ball and he didn't want to have her stop in the snow.

Entering the large base, Aaron was met with some claps and nods to him from the rebels and Guardians. Looking around, Aaron noticed their tv's were open to the festivals gym battles. They must have liked his performance to greet him the way they did.

Ignoring the lot, he turned to Kolby. _'Do you want to wait for now? Or can you make it to Brook's office?'_ Aaron asked with genuine concern.

' _I can make it a little further,'_ she stated weakly before walking past Aaron and into the hall to the General's office.

Aaron shook his head. Catching up, Aaron walked side by side with her. Once again without knocking, he opened the door for Kolby. Entering after her, he closed the door behind him. The General was once again on the phone. With his feet on the table he gestured to the chair. Aaron gestured to the chair for Kolby, who just shook her head in refusal. With another firm gesture to the only other chair in the room, she gave in and walked over to sit.

"Dan… Dan, I got it. Yeah, he's here...Just now, did you watch it. Well then you missed it… Alright got it." He hung up. "Congrats Aaron. And very nicely done," he nodded to Kolby who nodded back. "That means you have the badge that you ne…" He was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Oh, look. Someone who knocks." Aaron chuckled at the General's remark. "Enter!" He sounded loudly.

In walked a snow camoed soldier, "I'm here sir, just like you asked." David smiled at Aaron as he walked in.

"Good, did you bring the stuffs and things?" Brooks asked.

"Yes! I do have the things and stuff." David replied cooly.

Stepping around his desk, both David and Brooks walked up to one another. "As you probably don't know, I will inform you. A Guardian normally has two implants, one to connect them with their pokemon and to track you, usually located at the base of the neck. The other is implanted in your hand. This allows us to register individual weapons to you, so that not just anybody could use your weapons. It'll only remain able to fire if your hand holds it. The chip in the hand also allows you access to certain places, such as Guardian safehouses and shit. There are also some that it will not let you open, unless your clearance level is high enough, hence the badges. It can also take the place of your trainer card. It's actually very useful, all things considered." Brooks explained briefly. "So do you still want to join knowing this information?" He asked. Aaron nodded. "I need verbal confirmation."

"Yes, I still want to join." Aaron agreed while David gave a quiet happy gesture.

"Alright turn around." Brooks gestured with a spinning motion of his hand. Following instructions, Aaron turned around. "Head forward… Now this may pinch," he warned while pulling Aaron's hood down to reveal his medium length black hair. With a quick injection to the base of Aaron's neck, the needle was soon removed. Soon though, Aaron could hear a beeping sound. "Also fair warning, you won't be able to hear for a second. It's only temporary." Aaron had to read his lips for the warning as his ears had already gone silent. Once the beeping had stopped, and mechanical whirring sound could be heard. That too soon stopped. "Okay that was easy. Now for the hand, turn please." Aaron turned to face Brooks, while rolling his neck in minor discomfort. Even though he could not feel it on his neck, he knew it was there. "Hand." Grabbing Aaron's hand, he took another injector from David. With a quick sharp pain to his hand, it was removed. "Now kneel, and repeat after me." Aaron nodded while shaking his hand to rid it of the throbbing pain.

"Do you, Aaron Black, vow to honor and uphold the traditions and duties of the Guardians of Asmira?" he asked.

"I, Aaron Black, vow to honor and uphold the traditions and duties of the Guardians of Asmira." He stated back.

"Do you swear to serve and protect the people of Asmira, even at the cost of your own life?"

"I swear to serve and protect the people of Asmira, even at the cost of my own life."

"Do you vow to always put the greater good above yourself?"

"I vow to always put the greater good above myself."

"Do you swear to never let any emotions cloud your judgement?"

"I swear to never let any emotions cloud my judgement."

"And do you vow to defend Asmira from any threat, both foreign and domestic?"

"I vow to defend Asmira from any threat, both foreign and domestic."

"May Arceus strike you down should you break these oaths."

"May Arceus strike me down should I break these oaths."

"Honor, Duty, Sacrifice."

"Honor, Duty, Sacrifice."

"Now rise as a Guardian!" Brooks finished. Aaron rose to his feet, with a smile on his face -he was now apart of something. "Now, you wanted to be a combat engineer correct?" Aaron nodded. "And you know what that job entails correct." Aaron gave a half nod. "You as a combat engineer, are going to be the brains of any given mission. You must do anything and everything within your power and knowledge to complete a mission to the letter. You must think on your feet. You never know when you need to either save a subject alongside a strike unit, or disarm a WMD. You must be prepared. Also be aware, combat engineers are fairly rare. So the odds of you being teamed up with another are almost zero. So your more then likely going to be on your own for every mission, granted there will be a strike team, but none of them can do what you are going to be doing." Brooks explained. "If you know how to fail, you know how to succeed."

* * *

 **A/N: Holy sheep! That took longer than expected… I don't want to start spouting reasons as to why I'm a little late to the upload party, as Crisis had been done for like two weeks :/ so I'm just gonna say that I'm a slow writer :3**

 **-Nexus**


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